UAE lifts ban from Indian passenger: India-UAE travel guidelines: Covid vaccination, quarantine rules, other details

As UAE lifts ban on transit passenger traffic from India, more flight services facilitating travel between the two countries have started on Saturday. Flights from cities like Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluru, Trivandrum, and New Delhi to Abu Dhabi will resume today

Moreover, Etihad Airways will begin flights from three additional cities (Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Mumbai) for travel to UAE from August 10. Meanwhile, flights from India to Sharjah and Dubai had already started earlier this week on Thursday (August 5). Two flights, operated by the UAE airlines Air Arabia and Emirates (one service each), departed from the Cochin International Airport in Kerala on August 5.

It must be noted that not all Indian flyers can travel to UAE only transit passengers and UAE residents are allowed to travel.

India-UAE flights: How to travel to UAE after the ease of restrictions

Step 1: Dubai residents must apply for GDRFA (General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs) approval. Abu Dhabi and Sharjah residents must apply for an ICA (Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship) approval.

Step 2: UAE residents must present a certificate to prove that they have received both doses of the UAE-approved Covid-19 vaccine. The second dose must be at least 14 days before travel.

List of UAE approved Covid vaccines:

1. Sputnik V

2. Oxford/AstraZeneca

3. Pfizer/BioNTech

4. Moderna

5. Janssen (Johnson and Johnson)

6. Sinopharm

7. Novavax

Step 3: Once you have received approvals from GDREA/ICA, you can book the ticket.

Step 4: Passengers must take a PCR test 72 hours prior to departure. The results with a QR code must be uploaded to the ‘register arrival’ portal. The portal can be accessed by visiting smartservices.ica.gov.ae.

Step 5: One can opt for a rapid PCR test if the departure airport facilitates it

On arrival in UAE, all travellers will have to go under mandatory quarantine for 10 days. Besides, the travellers will have to wear a medically approved tracking wristband, provided by the airport authorities, during the quarantine period. The travellers under isolation will also have to take a PCR test on days four and eight.