Five African countries whose citizens had been barred from visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been dropped from the travel restriction.
In its latest review, UAE dropped Ghana, Angola, Uganda, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire allowing them admission to the middle-eastern State.
“With effect from January 13, Emirates will resume passenger services to and from Guinea (CKY), Cote d’Ivoire (ABJ), Ghana (ACC), Uganda (EBB) and Republic of Angola (Luanda),” states the aviation.
Kenya is still locked out in Dubai’s redlist.
This latest review comes after Kenya suspended all inbound and transit passenger flights from the UAE.
In a retaliation move against Dubai who banned all passenger flights from Kenya over fake Covid tests, the ban took effect last week on Monday.
“Inbound and transit passenger flights from UAE is suspended for a period of seven days. We are doing this to reciprocate a ban on Kenyan passenger flights to UAE,” Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director General, Gilbert Kibe said.
However, the Kenyan suspension did not affect cargo freights and passenger flights from Dubai to Nairobi.
UAE extended Kenya flight ban after it established that travellers from Nairobi were testing positive for Covid-19 after arrival in the Middle East nation, despite carrying negative test results.
According to Kibe, corrupt officials from the Health Ministry collude with travellers to issue fake Covid-19 PCR results to aid travel to Dubai.
So far, twelve people have been arrested for producing fake Covid-19 test results at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The twelve passengers, who were traveling to Saudi Arabia, were handed over to detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The temporary suspension of operations came barely a few days after Dubai introduced new travel requirements for those coming on direct flights from Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.
Under the new measures, travellers from Africa to Dubai were required to provide a report on a rapid PCR test conducted at the departure airport six hours before leaving for Dubai.
This is in addition to a negative Covid-19 test certificate issued within 48 hours of arrival in Dubai.
The new measures will also see passengers, including those in transit, undergo a PCR test upon arrival in Dubai and self-quarantine until a negative test result is out.
The new rules, which apply to both passengers terminating their journey and those transiting through Dubai, are expected to affect Africans, most of whom prefer Dubai as a transit point, due to its interconnectivity and the lower fares charged by its national carrier, Emirates Airlines.
The report comes at a time the country has recorded a sharp increase in cases of Covid-19 infections in recent months, while the number of admissions in health facilities is also increasing.
The positivity rate climbed sharply by a double-digit from last month, raising concerns among health officials.
The rate has increased from a low of 0.5 per cent in October to 7.8 per cent as at yesterday.
