UAE stretches ban on Pakistanis, 3 more countries' travelers

Airline in an official statement on its website said, passengers who have connected through India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or 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 maybe accepted for travel.

"Our contact centres are experiencing a greater volume of calls than anticipated. If your call is not related to travel within the next 48 hours, please consider calling back later," said Emirates.

Emirates also said it expects a high number of passenger departures from Dubai.

"Due to COVID 19 travel requirement checks and safety procedures, we expect an increased waiting time at check-in counters," said the airline.

The carrier urged customers to arrive early at the airport.

Earlier, UAE announced the suspension of entry for travellers and transit passengers from Indonesia and Afghanistan on national and foreign flights.

The announcement was made by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) in the UAE.

The suspension will start today (July 11), including the suspension of the entry of travellers who were in these countries 14 days before coming to the UAE.

However, the authorities said a few categories are exempted from the travel restriction.

The excluded category should present a negative Covid-19 test obtained within 48 hours of departure along with a mandatory 10-day quarantine.

Moreover, a PCR test at the airport as well as another test on the fourth and eighth days of entering the country is required.

Furthermore, the period of required PCR test is reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours, provided that the tests are issued by accredited laboratories and carrying the QR Code.

The GCAA said in a statement, cargo flights to and from these countries will continue as usual.