UAE to suspend flights from Vietnam from June 5

Transit flights through the Emirates to Vietnam can continue

The rules on how long visitors to Abu Dhabi spend in quarantine depend on where they are travelling from. Getty.

An airport worker escorts a passenger through Abu Dhabi International Airport. All photos by Victor Besa / The National

A passenger wearing a face mask checks in at the Etihad counter

The drop-off area at Abu Dhabi airport's main departures concourse

Passengers queue for check-in for repatriation flights

A traveller has his passport checked by security in the departures area

Staff are hosed down with a mild disinfectant before entering public areas

Etihad staff check passengers in during a media tour for The National in July

Etihad staff check passengers in during a media tour for The National in July

The airport has handled hundreds of flights in recent months but tourists have not been able to secure a visa since the borders closed in March

The airport has handled hundreds of flights in recent months but tourists have not been able to secure a visa since the borders closed in March

Passengers at the Etihad check-in desk

Arrivals can expect strict hygiene measures and must quarantine for 14 days on arrival

Passengers at the Etihad Check-In area at Abu Dhabi International Airport

Read also: UAE likely to strike travel corridor deals with Europe and US, says Dubai Airports chief

The UAE from Saturday will suspend entry for travellers from Vietnam.

The announcement was made on Thursday by the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority.

"Passengers coming from Vietnam on all flights of national and foreign carriers, as well as transit passengers coming from Vietnam" will be stopped, it said on Twitter, "with the exception of transit flights coming to the country and heading to Vietnam".

The suspension will begin at 11:59pm on Saturday.

Some people will still be allowed to travel, with the strict enforcement of precautionary measures.

These include UAE citizens and their first degree relatives, diplomatic missions between the two countries, official delegations, business planes and golden and silver residency holders, provided they receive prior approval.

Also allowed are those people who can show a certificate proving they have been fully vaccinated with an inoculation approved by the World Health Organisation, and that 28 days have passed since both doses.

‎‏Cargo flights will continue to operate between the UAE and these countries.

Last weekend, Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long announced the discovery a new variant of Covid-19 in the country.

Vietnamese authorities said the mutation was a hybrid of the Indian and British strains, but on Thursday the World Health Organisation said the variant was instead part of the existing Indian strain.

"There is no new hybrid variant in Vietnam at this moment based on WHO definition," Kidong Park, the WHO's representative in Vietnam, told the newspaper Nikkei.