The United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on transit passengers from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and African countries on Aug. 5, the federation’s National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Tuesday.
The passengers would also be required to provide a final destination, the authority said, adding that UAE departure airports would arrange separate lounges for transiting passengers.
In a tweet, the UAE embassy in Pakistan confirmed that travel for transit passengers from Pakistan would resume, “provided that the traveler’s last destination is accepted with submission of laboratory examination within 72 hours from the time of departure”.
The UAE had on July 15 withdrawn its requirement binding all Pakistani travelers to get their Covid-19 vaccination certificates attested by the Foreign Office and the UAE embassy starting August 1, hours after news of the condition became public.
The order was withdrawn after the Foreign Office had taken up the matter with UAE authorities.
The UAE had banned passengers from many South Asian and African countries earlier in April, amid a virus surge in South Asia. But now the federation is opening its borders to people from those nations who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
NCEMA said that passengers traveling from countries where flights had been suspended can transit through its airports from Thursday as long as they present negative PCR tests taken within 72 hours before departure.
A ban on entry to the UAE for passengers from these countries would also be lifted for those with valid residencies and who are certified by Emirati authorities as fully vaccinated, the authority added.
Those working in the medical, educational, or government sectors in the Gulf Arab state, as well as those studying or completing medical treatment in the UAE, would be exempt from the vaccination requirement as would humanitarian cases.
The transit ban had also included Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Uganda.