Emirates suspends flights from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka until August 7
Passengers connected through these destinations in the last 14 days cannot travel to UAE
Dubai: Emirates will be suspending the carriage of passengers from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Dubai until August 7. Furthermore, passengers who have connected through India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the last 14 days will not be accepted to travel from any other point to the UAE.
UAE Nationals, holders of UAE Golden Visas and members of diplomatic missions who comply with updated COVID‑19 protocols, are exempt and may be accepted for travel.
This is the latest extension of a ban on inbound flights from India. Starting from April 24, General Civil Avation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) suspended all inbound flights for national and international carriers coming from India.
The flight ban was initially blamed on a surge in the ‘Delta’ variant of the COVID-19 virus. The date for the resumption of travel has been postponed several times.
Thousands of Indians who flew home from the UAE when travel restrictions were eased are stuck at their homes in India owing to new protocols having kicked in. India is UAE's largest source market and represents about a third of its passenger traffic. In 2019, there were about 3.42 million Indians living in UAE.