Dubai drops Uganda from redlist as it retains Kenya

Kenya is still locked up in Dubai’s ‘Red List’ even as it removed five African countries whose citizens had been barred from visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been from the travel restriction.

© Getty DUBAI, UAE - JANUARY 01: Airport employees prepare an Emirates airplane for a flight at Dubai International Airport on January 01, 2022 in Dubai, UAE. Inter-country journeys made during the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus pandemic require differing measures of covid control according to the airline carrier and country of departure and arrival. Borja Sanchez Trillo flew with Emirates Airlines from Madrid, Spain to Bangkok, Thailand at 21:40 CEST on New Year's Eve, 2021. He made a stopover in Dubai for just over two hours where he was required to test his temperature and show travel documents. On arrival in Bangkok (19:15 January 1, 2022) he was taken to his chosen AQ+ Hotel in the capital to isolate while he took a Covid PCR test. This is known as "Test and Go" quarantine and lasts for one day and one night, with the traveller allowed to leave after returning a negative test. If the resulting test is positive the traveller must go to a hospital. Currently, Thailand has temporarily suspended new applications for the one night “Test and Go” pass due to the virulent Omicron situation. (Photo by Borja Sanchez Trillo/Getty Images)

UAE left Kenya out in its latest review, which saw Ghana, Angola, Uganda, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire allowed admission to the middle-eastern state.

“With effect from January 13, Emirates will resume passenger services to and from Guinea (CKY), Cote d’Ivoire (ABJ), Ghana (ACC), Uganda (EBB) and Republic of Angola (Luanda),” reads a statement from the carrier’s website.

The aviation regulator told the Business Daily last week that Dubai had asked Kenya to put its house in order first before it could review the flight ban, which was reciprocated by Nairobi in kind last week.

At the heart of the conflict is travellers from Nairobi who were testing positive for Covid-19 after arrival in the Middle East nation, despite carrying negative test results. Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) director-general Gilbert Kibe said the scheme involved a racket of corrupt officials from the Health ministry who colluded with travellers to issue fake Covid-19 PCR results to aid travel to Dubai.

But in an escalation of the conflict, KCAA also stopped all the inbound flights from Dubai in a retaliatory move against UAE. The seven-day ban expires today at midnight. Before the ban last week, Emirates was bringing into Kenya passengers from Dubai and flew cargo on its way back using the same passenger jets, a move that angered local aviators.

The conflict will hurt the two airlines, especially the ailing Kenya Airways that is struggling financially. The route had become lucrative for KQ with increased demand from passengers due to the ongoing Dubai 2020 expo taking place in the UAE. Kenya had from November to December seen coronavirus resurgence with a rapidly rising caseload since confirmation of the highly infectious Omicron variant last year.

The country has, however, in the last one week recorded a fall in the positivity rate declining to 13 percent on Thursday from a high of more than 30 percent at the beginning of the year. The surge in global coronavirus infections has seen many countries tighten restrictions to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. The World Health Organisation (WHO) labels a country to be a high risk if the positivity rate rises above five percent and advises countries to consider restrictions if it remains above the limit for at least 14 days.