New Delhi: The National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) on Tuesday informed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would lift its ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries from August 5.

The UAE, a major international travel hub, has banned passengers from many South Asian and African countries for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The department announced the ease on its official Twitter account. The tweet read,” passengers travelling from countries where flights had been suspended would be able to transit through its airports from Thursday as long as they present negative PCR tests taken 72 hours prior to departure.” 

The NCEMA stated that the transit passengers would have to acquire approval from their final destination following which they could touch down UAE as a transit spot. The UAE departure airports would arrange separate lounges for transiting passengers. It also stated that the ban would be lifted for those with valid residencies and who are certified by Emirati authorities as fully vaccinated. 

 Those working in the medical, educational or government sectors in the Gulf Arab state, as well as those studying or completing medical treatment in the UAE, would be exempt from the vaccination requirement as would humanitarian cases.