Desperate residents stranded in India rush to enquire about airfare and travel guidelines to reach UAE

Niloufar Saleem, Gulf Today

UAE residents and other travellers who have their family living in the Emirates are ready to go to any length to reach the country, even if it means forking out more for the tickets to be with their loved ones.

Many UAE residents had been stuck in India because of the flights that were suspended due to the safety measures taken by the UAE after coronavirus cases in India started rising.

Travel agents said that residents are enquiring about the procedures they have to go through as soon as they land in the UAE.

A Gulf Today reader messaged the newspaper’s Facebook account to get more details about the UAE approved vaccines. Vishaal Kumar Singh asked whether he can travel to UAE after taking two doses of Covishield vaccine.

The UAE authorities have approved the Covishield vaccine for Indian travellers as the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is being sold in India under the brand name of Covishield.

Following are the vaccines approved by the UAE:

-Sinopharm

-Sputnik V

-AstraZeneca (Covishield)

-Pfizer-Biontech

The UAE airlines saw a rush for tickets being bought although the fares were reportedly comparatively high.

As soon as the UAE announced the reopening of flights from India, the websites and phone lines to all airlines were completely jammed.

Farzana, a UAE resident, said, “People are rushing to buy the tickets and are making the necessary arrangements to reach their most loved destination.”

Farzana is also looking at all the possibilities of reaching the UAE as fast as possible.

The UAE announced the updates to Dubai’s travel protocol for inbound passengers from South Africa, Nigeria and India, effective from Wednesday, 23 June 2021.

The new protocol allows travellers from South Africa, who have received two doses of a UAE-approved vaccine, to enter Dubai.

Four coronavirus vaccines that are approved in the UAE for the residents are Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik V and Oxford-AstraZeneca.

With regard to travel from India, only passengers with a valid residence visa are allowed to travel to Dubai.

Here are the six rules Indian travellers have to follow to enter Dubai:

1. Residents should have received two doses of vaccine approved by the UAE authorities.

2. Passengers must have received a negative test result for a PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure. The UAE citizens are exempted.

3. Only QR coded PCR test result certificates are accepted.

4. All passengers should take a rapid PCR test four hours prior to flight departure.

5. All passengers must undergo a PCR test on arrival at the Dubai airport.

6. Passengers should undergo institutional quarantine until they receive their PCR test result, which is expected within 24 hours. The UAE citizens and diplomats are exempted.