Passengers from 16 countries where flights in and out of the UAE are suspended will be exempt from current travel restrictions if they are participating in Expo 2020 Dubai, officials said.
A new circular issued by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said Expo 2020 international participants and exhibitors, as well as personnel sponsored by the world fair’s organiser, can enter the UAE.
The flight suspension for some of the 16 countries has been in place since April to limit the spread of Covid-19.
The GCAA said the UAE government is monitoring the situation closely.
Several categories of travellers were previously exempt from the travel suspension, including diplomatic personnel, UAE citizens and their first degree relatives, official delegations (subject to obtaining approval) and UAE residents with a gold or silver residency permit.
Crews of cargo flights and transit flights of foreign companies are also permitted to travel to the UAE provided they have a negative PCR test before travel and perform a PCR test upon arrival. On arrival in the UAE, they must quarantine in a hotel during the transit period and wear a monitoring and tracking device.
Last week, the UAE extended a flight ban on passengers from four major south Asian nations because of the highly infectious Covid-19 Delta variant.
Emirates airline said restrictions on travellers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were extended from July 21 to July 25 because of the Covid-19 situation.
Etihad Airways previously extended the ban until July 21.
