Travellers from Tanzania and Kenya will be allowed entry into Dubai from Saturday January 29, after the United Arabs Emirates lifted a ban it had imposed on all inbound and transit passenger flights since last year.
Reliable sources say the ban was lifted on Wednesday night, offering a major relief to hundreds of travellers from the two East African nations.
UAE barred entry of flights from Tanzania and Kenya on December 20, 2021, after establishing that travellers from Dar es Salaam and Nairobi were testing positive for Covid-19 on arrival in the Middle East country despite presenting negative test results.
However, the ban did not affect cargo flights by carriers like Kenya Airways (KQ) and Emirates Airlines.
“United Arabs Emirates has lifted a suspension it had imposed on Kenyan flights,” said Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) director-general Gilbert Kibe on Thursday without giving more details.
The UAE government also announced the resumption of entry for passengers from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe from January 29.
However, passengers from Uganda, Ghana, and Rwanda will be subjected to strict entry requirements into Dubai.
Passengers from the three countries will be required to present negative Covid-19 PCR test certificates with QR codes for tests conducted at an approved facility no more than 48 hours before departure and at the airport within six hours before the flight. They are also required to undertake a PCR test upon arrival.
