Emirates stops accepting travellers from Angola, Guinea, Kenya, 5 other African nations
By Tobi Adetunji
Emirates has added Angola, Guinea, Kenya and five other African nations to its travel ban list. According to the UAE-based carrier will no longer accept travelers originating from these countries.
It noted that the outbound passenger flights to the aforementioned destinations will not be affected.
The flight ban took effect from Tuesday. The airline also clarified that customers originating from Conakry (CKY) to Dakar (DSS) will not be accepted for travel. All outbound flights from Dubai to these destinations are not affected.
Unveiling the rationale behind the travel list ban, the airline noted that it was due to its efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19. Passengers originating from or have transited through in the last 14 days, as such those nations will not be allowed to travel to Dubai.
The move by Emirates adds to its list of banned African countries, which also includes Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
Earlier, Emirates offered exemptions for certain travellers from African nations. This included UAE nationals (and their 1st-degree relatives and domestic helpers) plus UAE Golden Visa holders, provided they self-quarantine and return a negative PCR test upon arrival.
The airlines advised passengers booked on the aforementioned services that they do not need to contact the airline to reschedule their booking. Instead, customers can keep hold of their booking and get in touch with their booking office or travel agent as soon as flights are resumed.
“The airline also charges travellers to visit Emirates’ ‘Manage Your Booking’ portal and keep their details up to date to receive the latest updates on their booking. Africa, the world’s least-vaccinated continent, is currently going through a new wave of COVID infections as case numbers soar across the continent. According to the African C.D.C, 21 African nations are experiencing a fourth wave of COVID cases as the highly-transmissible Omicron variant spreads.
“For example, Kenya has seen a sharp jump from 1% positive cases to 30% in just three weeks. However, South Africa, which went through the world’s earliest Omicron outbreak, has seen a 35% drop in COVID cases.
“Encouraging evidence suggests prior Omicron infection can protect against re-infection from the Delta variant, leading some experts to predict that Omicron will eventually displace Delta worldwide. An earlier study from South Africa indicated that Omicron is around 80% less likely to cause hospitalization than the Delta variant.”
