India-Dubai flight norms to be eased from June 23; here are six COVID rules passengers need to follow

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The authorities in Dubai have announced a relaxation in norms for passengers arriving from India, South Africa and Nigeria. The relaxations will come into effect from June 23, 2021.

The easing of curbs comes as a relief to United Arab Emirates (UAE) citizens, visa holders and migrant workers who were unable to return to the country due to the stringent coronavirus-related restrictions.

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For India-Dubai flights, travellers need to follow the following six COVID safety rules.

1. Passengers from India must be vaccinated with two doses of any of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved by the UAE health regulator. The AstraZeneca vaccine (known as Covishield), which is administered to over 80 percent of beneficiaries in India, is approved in the UAE. Sputnik V, another vaccine cleared for emergency use in India, is also approved in the Emirates.

2. The passengers should have undergone an RT-PCR test and received a negative test result within 48 hours of taking the flight. Those holding the UAE citizenship are, however, exempted from this norm.

3. The PCR test result certificates would only be accepted if they are QR coded.

4. In addition to the negative PCR test result certificate, the passengers are also required to undergo a rapid PCR test four hours before boarding the flight.

5. Upon landing at the Dubai airport, all passengers would have to mandatorily undergo a PCR test.

6. The arriving passengers would have to remain under institutional quarantine till the results of their fresh PCR test, conducted at the airport, is released. The results are expected within 24 hours. If confirmed to be negative, the passengers would free to leave the quarantine centre. Notably, diplomats and UAE nationals are exempted from this rule.

While regular international flights have been suspended since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, the flights from India operated under special arrangement were also suspended by the UAE from April 24 onwards. The suspension was triggered by the onset of the second COVID-19 wave in India.