The UAE government issued a new set of rules for visitors to the country on Tuesday. Passengers from Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and Nepal must undergo PCR testing before entering the country, according to the directives, which take effect today.
In addition, travellers must appear at the airport six hours (up from four hours) prior to departure to undertake the quick PCR test.
All airlines are required to follow the guidelines, according to the UAE government’s notice.
Islamabad airport starts conducting rapid PCR tests
According to a report, the Islamabad International Airport (IIAP) began performing quick PCR testing for travellers wanting to fly to the UAE on Tuesday.
According to the article, the Islamabad International Airport is offering state-of-the-art facilities to travellers with the help of genuine labs.
Every day, travellers travelling from Pakistan to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah are subjected to quick PCR testing performed on the grounds of the airports. This service is also offered in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan, and Sialkot international airports. Dr Irtaza, who was dealing with travellers waiting for their PCR test results at the IIAP, stated, All the labs are located within the premises of these airports.
Airlines have signed arrangements with Pakistani labs to perform airport testing.
The UAE revised its travel policy for Pakistani visitors a little over a week ago, requiring them to undergo a quick PCR test four hours before departure.
Thousands of passengers wanting to return to the UAE were kept stuck due to the lack of testing facilities at airports.
According to the Khaleej Times, Pakistani airlines were in talks with healthcare professionals in the country to set up quick PCR testing facilities at airports so that travellers travelling to the UAE would not have any issues.
On August 6, two flights from Karachi to Dubai took off, but the airlines had to unload 70 people owing to the PCR test requirement not being met.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has asked the government to intervene and ask the UAE to accept the findings of antigen testing rather than quick PCR tests.
