Dubai flights: Tourists not required to show vaccine records, say airlines

Dubai - Passengers choosing to travel into other emirates must continue to show proof of vaccination as stated earlier.

Dubai-bound travellers are not required to show their vaccination records before entering the country, according to travel guidelines issued by the UAE and Indian carriers on Tuesday. The fresh travel update comes after UAE authorities announced the resumption of visit visas to Covid-vaccinated tourists from August 30.

Dubai flights: Flydubai issues travel rules for visit visa, entry permit holders

Holders of all types of visa and/or entry permits granted by authorities in the UAE can now fly to Dubai, according to guidelines issued by UAE carriers Emirates and flydubai. Similar notices were published by Indian carriers Air India, Indigo and SpiceJet as well. An Air India official in Dubai also confirmed these reports to Khaleej Times on Monday.

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Airlines published these revised guidelines based on protocols issued by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) on Monday. At present, the approved visa categories allowed to travel into Dubai are residence visa, employment, short or extended stay, visit, and newly issued residence visa.

What documents do tourists need?

Inbound passengers arriving from restricted countries need to have a valid negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code issued within 48 hours of the time the sample was collected from an approved health facility. They also need to produce a rapid PCR test report with a QR code for a test conducted at the departure airport within six hours of departure.

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However, the above-mentioned rules are applicable only to travellers arriving in Dubai. Passengers choosing to travel into all other international airports in the country must continue to show proof of vaccination as stated earlier, according to the travel guidelines posted on the Etihad Airways and Air Arabia websites.

Raheesh Babu, the group chief operating officer of Musafir.com, an online travel agency, said, “We are still awaiting the final SOP for tourists from Etihad Airways.”

Tourist visa holders have already begun arriving in Dubai. Khaleej Times caught up with tourists who arrived in Dubai early Tuesday morning. Abu Dhabi resident Kamlesh Tiwari received his wife Preeti Tiwari and 21-year-old son Pritesh Tiwari at Dubai International Airport at 6am. Tiwari moved to Abu Dhabi to work at the Union Bank of India branch in Abu Dhabi.

Dubai travel: Emirates issues visa, Covid-19 test guidelines for tourists

He applied for his wife’s and son’s tourist visas a few days ago. “They flew into Dubai from Ahmedabad. All my bookings were taken care of by Musafir.com. This is the first time my wife and son are travelling to Dubai. My wife and son are vaccinated.”

He added, “However, I did not need to show the vaccination proof anywhere. They just took the pre-travel RT-PCR test and another rapid test at the airport. A third test was done at DXB after they disembarked the flight.” Once Tiwari received the test results, he made his way with his family to Abu Dhabi.

“We stopped at the Dubai-Abu Dhabi border and provided all our documents including our tenancy contract. The details were updated into the system by border authorities. Once we received permission, which took an hour, we made our way home. My family will be undergoing 10 days of home quarantine in Abu Dhabi and will make sure we follow all rules issued by the government,” he stated.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com