ABU DHABI — The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) in the United Arab Emirates have announced the suspension of all inbound flights for national and international carriers coming from Indonesia and Afghanistan, effective 11:59 on Sunday, July 11.

The travel suspension includes inbound transit passengers except transit flights coming to the UAE and heading to these countries, the GCAA said in a statement on Saturday.

The GCAA indicated that it is required for those coming from Indonesia and Afghanistan through other countries that the period of their stay in the latter countries is not less than 14 days to be allowed access to the UAE.

This includes suspending the entry of travelers who were in these countries 14 days before coming to the UAE. Transit and cargo flights to and from these countries will continue, as usual, the GCAA said in a statement.

The GCAA affirmed that UAE nationals and their first-degree relatives, diplomatic missions between the UAE and the two countries, official delegations, businessmen — after getting prior approvals — and golden and silver residency permit holders, in addition to the holders of essential jobs according to the classification of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA), the staffs of UAE embassies in the two countries and crews of foreign freight and transit planes, are excluded from this decision.

The excluded category should present a negative COVID-19 test obtained within 48 hours of departure, a mandatory 10-day quarantine and a PCR test at the airport as well as another test on the fourth and eighth days of entering the country.

According to the decision, the period of the required PCR test is reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours, provided that the tests are issued by accredited laboratories and carrying the QR Code.

UAE citizens are prohibited from traveling to Indonesia and Afghanistan, except for the country's diplomatic missions in these countries, emergency treatment cases, official delegations, and previously authorized economic and scientific delegations.

The authority called on all travelers affected by the decision to follow up and communicate with the airlines to amend and schedule their flights and to ensure their safe return to their final destinations without any delay or other obligations. — Agencies