Dubai: Emirates will suspend flights between Dubai and India for 10 days from Sunday (April 25) amid the deadly surge in COVID-19 cases in India, reports suggested.
The move by the Gulf nation’s airline to stop flights comes days after Britain imposed its strictest travel curbs on India and after Prime Minister Boris Johnson called off a trip to New Delhi. France has said it will also impose a 10-day quarantine for travellers arriving from India.
Sharing a statement, the UAE said arrival passengers from India through other countries are not allowed to enter unless they were staying for 14 days in those countries.
However, the departure and cargo flights between UAE and India will continue to operate. UAE citizens, diplomatic delegations, official delegations and flights of businessmen are the categories that are exempted from this restriction.
The ten-day quarantine will be mandatory for the above-mentioned categories. They will have to undergo an RT-PCR test on the day of arrival, day 4, and on day 8, the statement said. The test results will only be accepted from authorised labs that generate a QR code, it further said.
India on Thursday reported over 3.15 lakh COVID-19 cases, the highest daily spike in infections the country has recorded outbreak, according to Union Health Ministry. Amid oxygen shortage and the faltering health system in the country, India witnessed 2,104 deaths in 24 hours, which is another record for India in the pandemic so far.
