Business Post Contributor
By Sodeinde Temidayo David
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that passengers on transit flights from Nigeria can now arrive in the country from tomorrow, Thursday, August 5.
Flights from other countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Uganda were also approved.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the UAE laid down restrictions on every flight as every international passenger coming from Nigeria and other countries were banned.
The country has lifted the ban on transit flights, but direct flights from Nigeria and these other countries are still banned until further notice.
The lifting of the ban on transit flights was revealed in a statement by the National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NECMA).
NECMA said passengers would be able to transit through its airports from tomorrow as long as they take the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to detect any genetic material from the coronavirus 72 hours before departure and must prove negative.
“Travel for transit passengers from all countries from which transit passengers have been suspended will be resumed in advance provided that the passenger’s last destination is accepted with a laboratory check-up within 72 hours of departure and state airports will allocate special lounges for transit passengers,” it said.
The body also said that some categories of passengers from some of the banned countries, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria and Uganda, will be excluded from the ban.
The body explained that those with valid residency permits who have received full vaccination doses in the UAE and 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose and who have vaccination certificates approved by the official authorities in the country, are excluded.
In the statement from NECMA, medic units are also excluded.
“Medical personnel working in the country will be excluded; including doctors, nurses, technicians from restaurants and non-restaurants, and those working in the educational sector in the country who teach in universities, colleges, schools, and institutes; from the vaccinated and non-vaccinated categories,” it noted.
The body further specified that humanitarian students are excluded from the ban.
“Students studying in the country, humanitarian cases who hold valid residency and workers in federal and local government agencies, and cases of completing treatment in the country, whether they are vaccinated or not, will also be excluded,” the statement added.
NECMA clarified that passengers in these categories will have to submit a request on the website of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship to obtain the necessary approvals in addition to the certificates of vaccination certified by the relevant authorities in the country from which these certificates are required.
“The excluded groups will be obligated to submit a prior PCR test within (48) hours from the date of departure, provided that the tests are from accredited laboratories carrying a QR Code, and conduct a quick laboratory test before boarding the plane,” the agency added.
NECMA also noted that the excluded groups should submit a preceding PCR test within 48 hours from the date of departure.
