DUBAI: Emirates has extended the suspension of flights from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka until July 15 in line with directives from the United Arab Emirates government, the airline said.
In a message on its website, the airline said passengers who have connected through these countries in the last two weeks will not be accepted to travel from any other point to the sheikhdom.
However, UAE nationals, holders of its golden visas and members of diplomatic missions who comply with updated Covid-19 protocols are exempted from the travel restrictions.
Last week, Emirates had announced that flights from Pakistan to Dubai would remain suspended “until further notice”.
The UAE had first announced the suspension of entry for travellers from Pakistan on national and foreign flights on May 12 to curtail the spread of coronavirus infections.
On Friday, Emirates suspended all passenger flights from India effective until further notice, a travel update on its website said.
But UAE nationals, golden visas holders and members of diplomatic missions were exempted and “may be” accepted to travel, it said.
Last week, UAE prohibited its citizens from travelling to the countries it has banned entry from recently as a Covid-19 precautionary measure.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority announced that the UAE citizens are prohibited from travelling to Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Namibia, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, South Africa, and Nigeria.
REPATRIATION FLIGHTS:
Meanwhile, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that the Civil Aviation Authority and Pakistan International Airlines will operate 18 flights to Gulf states — including the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain — to repatriate Pakistan nationals stranded there, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
For the UAE, ten flights will operate between July 5 and 10 to bring back 3,394 people from Dubai and Sharjah. Six flights will operate between July 6 and 18 to bring back 2,016 people from Doha and two flights will operate between July 9 and 11 to bring back 772 people from Bahrain.
“Besides this, we have allocated 2,000 special seats for UAE and [stranded citizens] will be brought back to the country before Eidul Adha,” Khan said.
“Booking has been started and flight operation will start from UAE tomorrow [Monday] and in four days, all the stranded Pakistanis in different Gulf states will be brought back safely in an honourable manner.”
The minister said the airlines — including Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Fly Dubai — had been issued show-cause notices.
