Emirates Airlines of Dubai has announced it will no longer accept travellers from eight more African nations in its efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19. Passengers originating from or have transited through in the last 14 days the following nations will not be allowed to travel to Dubai.
Affected services are:
Luanda, Angola
Conakry, Guinea
Nairobi, Kenya
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Entebbe, Uganda
Accra, Ghana
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The flight ban has already come into effect . The airline also clarified that customers originating from Conakry (CKY) to Dakar (DSS) will not be accepted for travel. All outbound flights from Dubai to these destinations are not affected.
Travellers originating from Angola, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia are affected. Photo: Getty Images
The move by Emirates adds to its list of banned African countries, which also includes Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe.
Emirates previously offered exemptions for certain travellers from African nations. This included UAE nationals (and their 1st-degree relatives and domestic helpers) plus UAE Golden Visa holders, provided they self-quarantine and return a negative PCR test upon arrival.
Emirates has advised passengers booked on the above services that they do not need to contact the airline to reschedule their booking. Instead, customers can keep hold of their booking and get in touch with their booking office or travel agent as soon as flights are resumed.
The airline also advises travellers to visit Emirates’ ‘Manage Your Booking’ portal and keep their details up to date to receive the latest updates on their booking.