Travellers from Kenya will be allowed entry into Dubai from Saturday 29th January after the United Arabs Emirates lifted a ban it had imposed on all inbound and transit passenger flights from Kenya since last year.
On Wednesday January 26th, the UAE National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) announced an end to the impasse on flights to and from Kenya and 11 other countries.
UAE barred entry of flights from Kenya on December 20, 2021, after establishing that travellers from Nairobi were testing positive for Covid-19 on arrival in the Middle East country despite presenting negative test results.
However, the ban did not affect cargo flights by carriers like Kenya Airways (KQ) and Emirates Airlines.
The UAE government also announced the resumption of entry for passengers from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
However, passengers from Uganda, Ghana, and Rwanda whose ban was lifted earlier, are still subject to strict entry requirements into Dubai.
Passengers from the three countries are required to present negative Covid-19 PCR test certificates with QR codes for tests conducted at an approved facility no more than 48 hours before departure and at the airport within six hours before the flight. They are also required to undertake a PCR test upon arrival.
Dubai is opening its borders to Kenya days after Kenya lifted a retaliatory ban on all inbound and transit passenger flights from the Middle East nation it had imposed two weeks ago.
