Fully vaccinated passengers are no longer required to take PCR tests before they arrive in the UAE starting 26 February, according to a National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) advisory.
As per the advisory, passengers carrying approved QR codes as proof of vaccination are no longer required to present a valid PCR test result upon arrival, meanwhile, unvaccinated passengers are still required to have a negative PCR test result no longer than 48 hours before arrival.
Relaxed restrictions
The advisory is in line with the UAE’s recent decision to relax COVID-19 rules in a bid to accelerate economic recovery while maintaining public health and safety across the country. NCEMA announced that medical face masks are no longer compulsory in outdoor public spaces, meanwhile, they remain mandatory indoors.
Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management revealed that close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases with no visible symptoms are no longer required to quarantine.
Flexible requirements
“On the local level, each emirate has the flexibility to determine the duration of the quarantine period and PCR tests for COVID-19 contacts in their respective sectors and professions, according to the vital sectors in the country, while necessarily maintaining the need to follow precautionary and preventive measures, which include adherence to physical distancing, and mask-wearing at all times,” NCEMA stated.
Boosting recovery
The worldwide ease of travel restrictions is set to support the recovery of the global aviation sector ahead of the busy summer season, after two years of the pandemic and its implications.
Over the past two years, various industry stakeholders including airlines, airports and aviation service providers among others have sustained record financial losses, as the pandemic forced their operations nearly to the brink of collapse.
