UAE not accepting pax from Uganda, Zambia, DRC
Jul 27, 2021, 1:59 pm
#1
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Join Date: May 2006
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UAE not accepting pax from Uganda, Zambia, DRC
A friend recently flew from the US to Uganda on Emirates, and around the time he arrived, found out that after he booked, the UAE government had decided around mid-June that their carriers (Emirates and I presume also Etihad if they fly there) would be transporting pax to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zambia, but due to increased COVID-19 cases in those 3 countries, would not be transporting pax from those countries to or through the UAE.
The Emirates staff in Uganda had hoped that the restriction would be lifted by now, since after several weeks of lockdown their rates are heading back down, but when he checked today, they were still in place, and he needs to be flying back in a few days. Apparently his fare class is non-endorsable (today I learned that's a thing now?) so he has to get a partial refund from Emirates, book a one-way home on someone else (likely Qatar) and then file a claim for reimbursement. Ugh.
This is pretty unfortunate for Emirates, since it wasn't at all their idea and is a bit of a PR disaster for them - taking people somewhere then telling them that you won't be able to fly them back? My Ugandan in-laws have long thought of EK as the greatest and Dubai as a great place to connect, but this is driving them into the waiting arms of QR and Doha...
The Emirates staff in Uganda had hoped that the restriction would be lifted by now, since after several weeks of lockdown their rates are heading back down, but when he checked today, they were still in place, and he needs to be flying back in a few days. Apparently his fare class is non-endorsable (today I learned that's a thing now?) so he has to get a partial refund from Emirates, book a one-way home on someone else (likely Qatar) and then file a claim for reimbursement. Ugh.
This is pretty unfortunate for Emirates, since it wasn't at all their idea and is a bit of a PR disaster for them - taking people somewhere then telling them that you won't be able to fly them back? My Ugandan in-laws have long thought of EK as the greatest and Dubai as a great place to connect, but this is driving them into the waiting arms of QR and Doha...
Jul 27, 2021, 3:30 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,610
This happened to me for an emirates ticket from Pakistan.
Emirates should absolutely be able to keep the Africa-USA portion of the ticket as "open" with 1-2 year validity, so your friend can fly Africa to USA any date any time later, which is much better than some partial refund.
Emirates should absolutely be able to keep the Africa-USA portion of the ticket as "open" with 1-2 year validity, so your friend can fly Africa to USA any date any time later, which is much better than some partial refund.
Jul 27, 2021, 4:01 pm
#3
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Indeed, that would be better if he was definitely going to need to fly from Africa to the US in the next couple years.
But he’s a US-based not-so-frequent flyer and doesn’t have any idea when he’d be going to Africa again so I don’t think he’s in a good place to be booking round trips originating in Entebbe with unknown return dates. 🙁
But he’s a US-based not-so-frequent flyer and doesn’t have any idea when he’d be going to Africa again so I don’t think he’s in a good place to be booking round trips originating in Entebbe with unknown return dates. 🙁
This happened to me for an emirates ticket from Pakistan.
Emirates should absolutely be able to keep the Africa-USA portion of the ticket as "open" with 1-2 year validity, so your friend can fly Africa to USA any date any time later, which is much better than some partial refund.
Emirates should absolutely be able to keep the Africa-USA portion of the ticket as "open" with 1-2 year validity, so your friend can fly Africa to USA any date any time later, which is much better than some partial refund.
Aug 3, 2021, 10:24 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: IAH
Posts: 91
A friend recently flew from the US to Uganda on Emirates, and around the time he arrived, found out that after he booked, the UAE government had decided around mid-June that their carriers (Emirates and I presume also Etihad if they fly there) would be transporting pax to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zambia, but due to increased COVID-19 cases in those 3 countries, would not be transporting pax from those countries to or through the UAE.
The Emirates staff in Uganda had hoped that the restriction would be lifted by now, since after several weeks of lockdown their rates are heading back down, but when he checked today, they were still in place, and he needs to be flying back in a few days. Apparently his fare class is non-endorsable (today I learned that's a thing now?) so he has to get a partial refund from Emirates, book a one-way home on someone else (likely Qatar) and then file a claim for reimbursement. Ugh.
This is pretty unfortunate for Emirates, since it wasn't at all their idea and is a bit of a PR disaster for them - taking people somewhere then telling them that you won't be able to fly them back? My Ugandan in-laws have long thought of EK as the greatest and Dubai as a great place to connect, but this is driving them into the waiting arms of QR and Doha...
The Emirates staff in Uganda had hoped that the restriction would be lifted by now, since after several weeks of lockdown their rates are heading back down, but when he checked today, they were still in place, and he needs to be flying back in a few days. Apparently his fare class is non-endorsable (today I learned that's a thing now?) so he has to get a partial refund from Emirates, book a one-way home on someone else (likely Qatar) and then file a claim for reimbursement. Ugh.
This is pretty unfortunate for Emirates, since it wasn't at all their idea and is a bit of a PR disaster for them - taking people somewhere then telling them that you won't be able to fly them back? My Ugandan in-laws have long thought of EK as the greatest and Dubai as a great place to connect, but this is driving them into the waiting arms of QR and Doha...
Never again. Not Emirates. Not Dubai. Not UAE.
Aug 4, 2021, 11:13 am
#5
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,613
I find it very weird that people don't check the airline / country requirements when travelling these days.
It's like me turning up for a flight to the US and being turned away because we're still banned. "Never again. Not American. Not New York. Not USA".
It's like me turning up for a flight to the US and being turned away because we're still banned. "Never again. Not American. Not New York. Not USA".
Aug 4, 2021, 2:28 pm
#6
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: IAH
Posts: 91
Heh. Didn't show up for a flight and the country ban rules were changed mid-trip. But a parade of clowns at Emirates call centers to get a refund was the final straw.
Aug 4, 2021, 2:31 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,610
And the stupid part is that the purely transit ban isn't explicitly spelt out in many places, so you have to be a super vigilant traveller to know this. I honestly wouldn't place the blame on passengers here, because Emirates should really have it in big bold letters that hey, we might be running flights (for UAE citizens/golden visa holders), but even transit isn't allowed even if you're vaxxed etc.
For example, if i'm flying from say, Uganda to USA, logically I'll check this link (about USA in travel requirements by destination): https://www.emirates.com/us/english/...ination/#81342
But that doesn't mention the transit ban. You really have to dig deep under the Dubai travel rules page on emirates to find one line in 10 pages of text about the transit ban.
Last edited by nomiiiii; Aug 4, 2021 at 2:37 pm
Aug 5, 2021, 6:23 pm
#8
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Open-ended ban, EK can't handle.
This is a highly unpublicized rule actually because it pertains to transit. UAE has (till 5th august) banned even *transit* of folks from certain countries.
And the stupid part is that the purely transit ban isn't explicitly spelt out in many places, so you have to be a super vigilant traveller to know this. I honestly wouldn't place the blame on passengers here, because Emirates should really have it in big bold letters that hey, we might be running flights (for UAE citizens/golden visa holders), but even transit isn't allowed even if you're vaxxed etc.
For example, if i'm flying from say, Uganda to USA, logically I'll check this link (about USA in travel requirements by destination): https://www.emirates.com/us/english/...ination/#81342
But that doesn't mention the transit ban. You really have to dig deep under the Dubai travel rules page on emirates to find one line in 10 pages of text about the transit ban.
And the stupid part is that the purely transit ban isn't explicitly spelt out in many places, so you have to be a super vigilant traveller to know this. I honestly wouldn't place the blame on passengers here, because Emirates should really have it in big bold letters that hey, we might be running flights (for UAE citizens/golden visa holders), but even transit isn't allowed even if you're vaxxed etc.
For example, if i'm flying from say, Uganda to USA, logically I'll check this link (about USA in travel requirements by destination): https://www.emirates.com/us/english/...ination/#81342
But that doesn't mention the transit ban. You really have to dig deep under the Dubai travel rules page on emirates to find one line in 10 pages of text about the transit ban.
My friend's ticket was obviously booked well before the ban, and had he been notified when it went into effect, he would presumably have canceled and rebooked on QR or KL. So would a lot of other people, I'm sure.
But instead, he found out around the time he got to Uganda, and was told that "maybe" the ban would be lifted by July 25, and then when he came back from his honeymoon around July 27, that "maybe" it would be lifted in time for his return flight on July 30. (And whatever fare class he was in was "non-endorseable" to boot.)
Since Emirates has no idea when the ban will actually be lifted, they're selling round-trips with no idea whether they'll be able to actually complete them. (Current answer is "no."). I'm not really sure what else they could do other than simply suspending service to those countries until the ban is lifted, or endorsing return tickets over to QR/KL without question or objection (which would strike me as very honorable and ethical on their part), but for the admittedly small portion of frequent flyers who go to Uganda more than once a decade, this is really damaging their reputation.
Aug 20, 2021, 4:24 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 305
In similar situation here - booked round trip to/from Lusaka, Zambia on EK for this September. They suspended flights FROM Lusaka (but not to Lusaka) back in June, so I got "plan B" tickets on Ethiopian for my back to the US portion of the trip...however, I spoke with an agent today, and they told me that flights FROM Zambia (probably FROM Uganda as well) resumed on August 5th with 5 flights per week (subject to negative Covid test for transiting passengers and 14 day quarantine for those who enter the UAE)...if I cancel my "plan B" tickets and the agent happens to be wrong - I will be stuck in Zambia, but I cannot find anything official to see if the agent is correct in what she told me...my tickets are still valid on EK website, and in fact a lot of seats show as "occupied", but I wish they were more clear on what to expect...
Aug 23, 2021, 3:42 pm
#10
Join Date: Sep 2020
Programs: n/a
Posts: 33
I spoke to two agent from emirates they said transiting through Dubai from uganda is allowed( just cannot enter UAE) . when you guys see it's not allowed?