Emirates plans to leave South Africa this month
Emirates won’t fly from South Africa for another month, but they’re not cancelling flights yet.
After suspending flights from Johannesburg for almost two weeks, Emirates has now resumed them but they won’t be flying until further notice. It’s been four extensions since we last released one.
The airline’s flight suspension, which only permits passengers to enter Johannesburg, South Africa, was initially scheduled to expire at the end of December 2020. They extended their sale until 10 January and then again until 16 January, when they sold tickets for these two days at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
By Tuesday morning, Emirates’ flight bookings were no longer showing up for travel between South Africa and Dubai until January 31st. A new announcement has been made regarding the suspension of international flights departing from three major airports in South Africa.
Emirates Air Line currently operates four times weekly services between Dubai International Airport (DXB) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR). It plans to add two additional frequencies per week during peak periods.
After detecting the virus in its first case in early December, the UAE has banned travel from South Africa for two weeks. However, since then, there has been an increasing number of relaxations.
EU member states agreed to lift travel restrictions for citizens of certain African nations, including South Africa, while the US and Canadian governments lifted some travel restrictions earlier this year. Other islands followed suit by reopening their borders last month.
Countries like Australia, even though they were previously closed off from South African citizens due to COVID-19,have started reopening their borders.
Amidst the backdrop of these global reopenings and intense criticisms directed at the knee-jerk ban imposed by several countries following the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus responsible for COVID-19), the UAE has faced both frustration and confusion regarding its own restrictions.
According to DIRCO, the UAE has been informed that its continued ban on imports from South Africa is not scientifically justified. The Department previously told Business Insider South Africa that they continue to engage with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and were confident that the ban would soon be lifted.