Dubai: Emirates airline will resume flights to five Africa destinations - Guinea (CKY), Cote d'Ivoire (ABJ), Ghana (ACC), Uganda (EBB) and Angola (LAD) - from today (January 13).
Passengers arriving and transiting Dubai must meet the following travel protocol:
• Passenger travelling from Guinea (CKY), Uganda (EBB) or Ghana (ACC) with final destination DXB requires 48 hours PCR and 06 hours Rapid PCR and PCR on arrival in DXB.
• Passengers travelling from Guinea (CKY), Uganda (EBB), Ghana (ACC) and Cote d’Ivoire (ABJ) and transiting DXB are only required to follow final destination rules (i.e., no 48 hours PCR or no 6 hours PCR unless it is mandated by the final destination).
• Passengers travelling from Angola (LAD) or Cote d’Ivoire (ABJ) and inbound DXB are required to have 72 hours PCR and PCR on arrival in DXB.
• Passengers travelling from Angola (LAD) and transiting DXB are only required to have 72 hours PCR.
• Passengers travelling from CKY – DSS must follow final destination rules. (That means no 48-hours PCR or six-hour PCR unless it is mandated by the final destination.)
• Passengers accepted for travel under the travel protocol must present a valid negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility within the stipulated hours of departure, test validity must be calculated from the time the sample was collected.
• Passengers who are required to undergo COVID-19 PCR test on arrival, and must remain in self quarantine until they receive the test result.
UAE Nationals and children under the age of 12 are exempt.
A gradual return
Emirates has been gradually restarting Africa flights after a spike in Omicron cases prompted a global ban on flights from the continent's biggest air hubs. Last week, the Dubai airline announced that it will operate daily passenger flights into Johannesburg.
Emirates added that it would not be able to carry outbound passengers from Johannesburg due to existing restrictions. Although the blanket ban by countries has been criticised by the African countries and sections of the aviation industry, some analysts say it could be blamed on unreliable testing, resulting in a disproportionately higher number of positive cases intercepted on arrival.
