United Arab Emirates (UAE) has extended the ban on Kenyans travelling to her country indefinitely, restricting any flight from Nairobi and other African countries as well.
In a notice, Emirates Airlines disclosed publicly that it has furthered extends the ban, which was supposed to end on the eve of Christmas, until further notice.
The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) had previously announced a 48-hour suspension on any flight from Kenya to the Middle East nation on December 20, but however, on Wednesday, the Dubai based authority said that it has furthered extended the suspension on Kenya in other comply with the directive that was to end on December 28
Their statement thus read as follows: “Until further notice, flights to and from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda are suspended. Passengers who have been in transit through these countries in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Dubai”
The decision to extend the flight ban on these countries by UAE was done to limit the spread of the Covid-19 case in the country
The directive came as a shock to the National Air Carrier, Kenya Airways which had witnessed a rise in bookings to UAE as Dubai EXPO 2020 exhibition is ongoing in
Kenya Airways reportedly suspended passengers flight to Dubai on Tuesday in other to comply with the directive
In other ensure sincerity, the Kenyan national air carrier has promised to refund passengers who had booked tickets to travel was however suspended and that the travellers will also be free to rebook again when flights activities resumed.
The suspension came just a few weeks after Dubai established new travel requirements for direct air travels from Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia
Under the new requirement, any travellers that are transiting from Africa to Dubai were required to provide a PCR test result conducted at the airport not less than six hours before leaving for Dubai
In addendum, travellers must self-quarantine until they receive a negative covid-19 test certificate given with 48 hours of arrival in Dubai
In Kenya, the outbreak of the virus has rapidly increased after its confirmed that dangerous omicron has found its way to the country The rise in global Corona Virus infections has made many countries tighten restrictions in other to curb the spread of the virus
