Malta allows Dubai passengers to enter without quarantine

Malta will allow vaccinated passengers from Dubai to travel to the island nation without the need to quarantine on arrival.

Dubai was among a handful of new destinations outside of the European Union and UK to have its vaccine certificates recognised by the Mediterranean island's government. Malta's state-run airport said it would accept Dubai Health Authority's vaccine certificate from Wednesday.

The changes – set out on Malta Airport's website and the Emirates Airline website – appear to supersede the UAE's status on Malta's red list for travel, but further clarity was awaited from the authorities.

On Wednesday, Emirates resumed its Dubai to Malta via Larnaca service for the first time since March 2020.

Travellers must have had two doses of a European Medicines Authority-approved vaccine – Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford or Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) – to enter the country.

People vaccinated with China's Sinopharm are not eligible at this stage.

"Passengers must present a certificate of vaccination against Covid‑19, stating that all required doses were received, to be allowed unrestricted entry into Malta," said Emirates, which flies direct to Malta, on its website.

"A negative Covid‑19 PCR test result will not be accepted for travel in place of a vaccination certificate."

On Tuesday night, the Maltese government abandoned a plan that was due to come into effect on Wednesday that would have effectively barred unvaccinated travellers from entry.

The move followed criticism from the European Commission, which said Malta was bound to the EU-agreed health pass system that is binding on all member states.

The Times of Malta reported the inclusion of Dubai, but said the government had yet to officially announce the move, nor fully outline quarantine rules for unvaccinated travellers from any eligible country.

Malta, which has double-vaccinated at least 70 per cent of its population, has some of the world's strictest entry rules.

It factors in where people were vaccinated and which country issued their vaccine certificate, as well as the brand and EMA-approved status.