New Zealanders in the UAE will be unable to book a flight home for the next three weeks.
A temporary suspension on flight bookings has been put into effect by Emirates, after the New Zealand government announced it is restricting inbound capacity to ease pressure on quarantine facilities.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said the New Zealand government was working with airlines to control increasing numbers of Kiwis wanting to return home. This means restricting capacity on flights.
Emirates restarted its Dubai-Auckland service on Wednesday, July 1, and currently operates the route four times a week.
On Wednesday, an Emirates spokeswoman told The National that new bookings would "temporarily be unavailable for the next three weeks".
"Existing bookings during this period will remain unaffected. The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority and we are working with the relevant authorities to minimise disruption.”
New Zealand ambassador to the UAE Matthew Hawkins urged Kiwis abroad to monitor the government's Safe Travel website for updates and to sign up to the website for alerts.
The New Zealand government is managing flights into the country to ensure it is able to safely place returnees into a managed isolation or quarantine facility.
Air New Zealand, the country's national carrier, has also put a temporary hold on new bookings and is now looking at aligning daily arrivals with the capacity available at managed isolation and quarantine facilities.
Safe Travel has warned this could also have a flow-on effect for months to come for those coming from further afield and connecting to Air New Zealand flights from Emirates or Etihad Airways flights.
"New Zealanders should be aware that transit options to return to New Zealand are limited, booked flights may be cancelled and immigration requirements of other countries can quickly change," the statement said.
"New Zealand cannot influence or guarantee another country or airline’s entry, exit or transit requirements and it is the responsibility of each traveller to check the latest requirements themselves."
New Zealand has garnered international praise for its handling of the pandemic, including most recently from WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Pacific nation's only active cases of Covid-19 are people who are new arrivals and are in managed isolation facilities. There is currently no evidence of community transmission, and 67 days have passed since the last locally acquired case from an unknown source recovered.
Nonetheless, it has become increasingly difficult for Antipodeans to return home in recent days.
Flights have been diverted from Melbourne until Tuesday, July 14, as the city grapples with containing a new spike of cases and enforcing another lockdown in parts of the city.
As a result, other airports across Australia have begun introducing passengers limited on flights. Sydney, for example, has now introduced a cap of 50 people per flight, and a maximum number of 450 travellers per day.
Certain states in Australia have also started making travellers pay for their own quarantine costs, a mandatory 14-day hotel stay.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Aspyr%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Aspyr%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20series%20X%2FS%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Third Test
Result: India won by 203 runs
Series: England lead five-match series 2-1
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Results:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 2,410m | Winner: Bin Battuta, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer)
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Al Hayette, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m | Winner: Faatinah, Jim Crowley, David Hayes
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m | Winner: Raven’s Corner, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m | Winner: Dream Castle, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Another Batt, Connor Beasley, George Scott
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
