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Qatar is only an hour’s flight from the UAE and recently reopened its borders to vaccinated tourists.
Many UAE residents stranded in their home countries increasingly regard Qatar and Ethiopia as quarantine transit destinations for returning to the UAE.
So far, many UAE residents stranded in the Indian subcontinent and other red-listed countries have flown to Balkan countries, southern Europe and Russia, spent 14 days there, and then took a flight to the UAE. Ethiopia has also been very popular recently.
However, since Qatar announced changes to its travel and quarantine policies on July 12, UAE residents have increasingly paid attention to Doha options.
Travel agencies in India and the UAE have insisted that in the past few weeks, there has been a surge in inquiries and bookings for group tours to Dubai via Qatar. Debashis Dey of Asra Travels, who runs a travel company in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, said: “We have received a lot of inquiries from people who want to travel to the UAE through Qatar.” “Indian nationals with residency rights in the UAE can get 30 days in Qatar. Pre-approved visa on arrival. They must show proof of a 14-day hotel reservation and also need to undergo a PCR test on arrival,” he added.
Qatar is only an hour’s flight from the UAE, and recently reopened its borders to vaccinated tourists.
The new regulations stipulate that passengers from red-listed countries such as India must undergo mandatory 10-day quarantine and repeat PCR tests on arrival at the hotel and on the 9th day, and the expenses shall be borne by the passengers. If the test result is negative, he/she can be discharged from the hospital. However, passengers travelling to the UAE must wait another four days and undergo another PCR test at least 48 hours before boarding.
Faisal Puthiyath, senior corporate consultant at musafir.com, said: “Qatar scores in two areas. First, the travel time from the Indian subcontinent is relatively short, and the flight time from Delhi and Mumbai to Doha, Qatar is between 3.5 hours and 4 hours. It’s an hour’s flight time from Doha to the UAE. Secondly, some packages are cheaper than flying to the UAE via Europe.”
AR is a Mumbai resident who works in a bank in Dubai. He is such a resident who wants Armenia to return to Dubai. However, he changed his mind because the 14-day package price in Armenia increased by about AED 10,000, while in Qatar it was much cheaper at AED 2,600, including airfare and accommodation.
AR, which has been stranded in India since June, chose a high-end price of AED 6,500 due to its superior accommodation facilities and flew to Doha on Saturday, July 23.
Similarly, RJ, who belongs to Delhi and works for a logistics company in Dubai, flew to Doha on Sunday, July 24, because he found it to be a “more attractive proposal” compared to eccentric routes such as Ethiopia and Uzbekistan.
“The biggest advantage is that the one-hour flight between Dubai and Doha is one hop and one hop. Once I cleared the 14-day quarantine barrier, Dubai was around the corner. The anxious wait is almost over, I should return to Dubai soon , Earlier than I thought,” he added.
The UAE suspended inbound flights from certain countries in April and May. These countries reported rising Covid-19 infection rates, restricting the movement of thousands of UAE residents and tourists who have since been exploring alternative routes to the UAE. One of the popular routes to the UAE after a 14-day stay in a third country.
Things to note before booking a flight to Doha
Passengers going to Qatar must register and upload information on the Ehteraz contact tracking mobile application (app) in Qatar at least 12 hours before flight departure, including passports, PCR test results and hotel reservation details
Indians can stay on the visa on arrival for 30 days
The RT-PCR test should be performed 72 hours before arrival at Qatar Airport
Qatar only allows vaccinated travelers to enter
The four vaccines approved by the government of Qatar include Pfizer Biotech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.Sinopharm is in the list of conditionally approved vaccines
Passengers vaccinated with Sinopharma need to be quarantined in Doha for 10 days. These hotels can be booked through DiscoverQatar website. On the second day of arrival, passengers must undergo RT-PCR and antibody testing. If the antibody is positive, the traveler will be exempted from quarantining the hotel and can move to any other hotel. However, if the antibody is negative, the traveler will have to stay in the isolation hotel for the next 9 days.
Reporter@khaleejtimes.com
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