UAE Suspends Flights from Indonesia, Afghanistan

The UAE authorities announced, on Saturday, a suspension on the entry of travellers from Indonesia and Afghanistan, starting July 11.

The ban will exclude some travelers, including UAE citizens and essential workers, who will be subject to a 10-day quarantine and PCR tests. Moreover, the suspension will include the entry of travellers who have visited these countries over the last 14 days.

In the same vein, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) have affirmed that the measures will be in effect from Sunday, noting that transit and cargo flights to and from these countries are exempted.

GCAA asserted that UAE nationals and their first-degree relatives, diplomatic missions between the UAE and the two countries, official delegations, businessmen -after getting prior approvals- and golden and silver residency permit holders are excluded from this decision.

Also, the holders of essential jobs according to the classification of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA), the staffs of UAE embassies in the two countries and crews of foreign freight and transit planes are also excluded.

Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported that the excluded category should present a negative COVID-19 test obtained within 48 hours of departure, a mandatory 10-day quarantine and a PCR test at the airport as well as another test on the fourth and eighth days of entering the country.

The period of the required PCR test is reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours, provided that the tests are issued by accredited laboratories and carrying the QR Code, according to the decision.

This move comes as Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, battles one of the worst outbreaks in the region. The government has imposed stricter curbs, including a full work-from-home order for non-essential sectors.

Hospitals in many provinces are running out of beds and oxygen. As many as 38,124 people were confirmed to have the coronavirus in the 24 hours through Friday, with 871 dying from the disease.