Emirates passengers from these 10 countries require Covid-19-negative certificates prior to their flights to Dubai

On Wednesday, Dubai-based Emirates airline issued a statement saying that passengers from certain countries would require to possess Covid-19-negative certificates in order to be eligible to board its flights.

The certificates must be issued no more than 96 hours before departure.

The 10 countries are: India, Pakistan, Egypt, Philippines, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, the Russian Federation, Tanzania and the US.

In the US, passengers from airports including Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO), and even those passengers originating from California, Florida and Texas and connecting to an Emirates flight to Dubai are required to possess the certificate.

These certificates must be “issued by a local government approved laboratory to be accepted on the flight,” the airline said in a statement on its website.

“Where specified, a certificate from a UAE government designated laboratory in the country of origin is also acceptable.”

On July 7, Dubai opened up to welcome tourists from around the world.

Emirates’ current network includes flights to 52 destinations worldwide.

Read: Emirates announces flights to more cities in July; network grows to 52 cities

The airline has said that customers who purchase an Emirates ticket by July 31, 2020, for travel on or before November 30, 2020, can enjoy flexible terms when they either book a Flex or Flex plus fare, or have to alter their travel plans due to Covid-19 related flight or travel restrictions.

Read also: Dubai’s Emirates processes nearly 650,000 refund requests, returns over Dhs1.9bn to customers

They will be eligible for a free date change, free rebooking to any alternate Emirates destination in the same region, extended ticket validity for two years from the purchase date for future use, and can even convert the ticket value to a Travel Voucher that may be used as credit towards future travel purchases with Emirates.

Last week, that airline said that it had processed nearly 650,000 refund requests in the past two months, returning over Dhs1.9bn to its customers due to several cancellations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In June, the airline expanded its refund request processing capability from a monthly average of 35,000 to nearly 200,000.