South African fans of the oasis in the desert, Dubai, can heave a huge sigh of relief as they will finally be allowed to enter the country again.
This comes after flights from South Africa and various other African countries in the SADC region to Dubai, were suspended after news broke that South Africa had detected the Omicron variant in November 2021.
The travel restrictions were imposed November 2021 on travellers from 12 African countries from which the new strain of Coronavirus, Omicron, began to spread around the world.
#الطوارئ_والأزمات والطيران المدني: استئناف دخول القادمين من كينيا وتنزانيا واثيوبيا ونيجيريا وجمهورية الكونغو وجمهورية جنوب افريقيا وبتسوانا وإيسواتيني وليسوتو وموزمبيق وناميبيا وزيمبابوي وتحديث إجراءات الدخول على القادمين من أوغندا وغانا وروندا اعتباراً من 29 يناير الجاري pic.twitter.com/Gky8MOXgGS
— NCEMA UAE (@NCEMAUAE) January 26, 2022
However, after the announcement by the United Arab Emirates National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) earlier on Thursday, travellers from these countries will be allowed to enter the country.
"From January 29, entry into the UAE for arrivals from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe is allowed again," NCEMA said on Twitter.
In a statement, Emirates, the Dubai-based airline confirmed that flights between Dubai and South Africa will operate as a daily flight to and from Johannesburg, effective from Saturday, January 29, and double the daily service from February 1.
Flights to and from Cape Town and Durban will operate daily from February 1.
We are pleased to announce that flights to and from South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe will resume starting 29 January. https://t.co/JSkmmxPlzk 1/2 pic.twitter.com/RkZM0eG31N
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) January 27, 2022
“All passengers travelling from South Africa with Dubai as their final destination, require a 48 hour PCR test. Passengers must present a valid negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate, with a QR Code and from an approved facility,” the airline’s statement reads.
On arrival at Dubai International, passengers will have to undergo an additional PCR test and remain in quarantine until the results of the test have been received.