Everything you need to know about Emirates airline's Africa flight restrictions

Concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have led Emirates airline to place restrictions on flights from a number of African countries.

Bans initially covered southern African nations, following a decree from the UAE government in November preventing travellers from seven countries, including Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia, from entering the UAE.

Restrictions have since been expanded to cover destinations across the continent, including the Republic of Congo, Kenya and Tanzania.

On December 28, Emirates announced restrictions on inbound flights from Conakry, Guinea and Luanda, Angola. Passengers starting their journey from Conakry and flying via Dakar, Senegal, will also not be accepted for travel. Casablanca, Morocco was added to the list on January 5.

Which countries are affected?

Restrictions apply to inbound passengers only, including anyone who has visited or transited through these destinations in the 14 days prior to travel to the UAE. Outbound passenger operations remain unaffected.

Emirates has currently banned travellers from the following countries, until further notice:

Angola, effective December 28

Guinea, effective December 28

Uganda, effective December 28

Ghana, effective December 28

Ivory Coast, effective December 28

Kenya, effective December 25

Tanzania, effective December 25

Ethiopia, effective December 25

Nigeria, effective December 13

Zambia, effective November 27

Zimbabwe, effective November 29

South Africa, effective November 29

Morocco, effective January 5

How to proceed if you're travelling from one of these countries

Passengers who have already booked flights from these destinations do not need to contact the airline. “Affected customers do not need to call us immediately for rebooking,” Emirates advises on its website.

“Customers can simply hold on to their Emirates ticket and, when flights resume, get in touch with their travel agent or booking office to make new travel plans.”

What are the exemptions?

UAE citizens, their first-degree relatives, diplomatic missions, official delegations between the UAE and these countries, and golden visa holders are exempt from restrictions and can fly in from these countries.

These travellers should present a negative Covid-19 test obtained within 48 hours of departure and a Rapid-PCR test at the airport within six hours of departure wherever possible. Another PCR test will be required at the airport on arrival in the UAE.

A 10-day quarantine and a PCR test on the ninth day of entering the country is required for UAE citizens, their first-degree relatives, diplomatic missions and golden visa holders.

UAE citizens are barred from travelling to any of the listed countries in Africa except for emergency treatment cases, official delegations and scholarships.

Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE

There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.

It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.

What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.

When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.

It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.

This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.

It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.

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