If you have plans to travel to Dubai for a holiday or business, it’s important to know that extra precautionary measures are being introduced at Dubai International Airport in a bid to limit the transmission of covid-19; this comes in the wake of rising cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Officials have confirmed that whilst over 50 countries - including India, Turkey, Egypt and Russia - are subject to screening on Emirates flight arrivals in the UAE, additional spot-checks on inbound flights from countries not mandated to take tests on arrival are now being implemented under new safety measures.

Passengers arriving from the UK must undergo testing (unless already chosen at random) upon arrival at DXB International Airport, since the UK is not included on the list of countries in which a PCR test is compulsory. In addition, travel to the UAE from several African nations including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria is currently prohibited due to high Omicron case numbers.

Dubai International Airport will conduct random PCR tests on arrival passengers for certain flights at no additional cost, with positive tests requiring passengers to isolate for 10 days from the first day the PCR test is taken. This process is compulsory, even for individuals experiencing no symptoms. Those testing positive must also download the Covid-19 DXB app or risk paying a potential Dh10,000 fine.

Chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management, Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed, said everybody must stringently observe the preventive guidelines in place to help keep themselves and others safe.