Pre-departure Covid-19 testing rules changed for passengers travelling to Dubai from India

The rules for pre-departure Covid-19 tests for passengers travelling from India to Dubai will change later this week.

Effective Thursday, April 22, the validity of the Covid-19 PCR test for these passengers has been reduced to 48 hours from the time of collecting the sample. Earlier, passengers could undertake the test 72 hours prior to departure.

In a statement issued on Twitter by Air India Express regarding the new rules, the airline said that the date and time of the sample collection, and the date and time on which the result was generated, must be accurate.

Attention passengers travelling from India to Dubai⚠️@cgidubai pic.twitter.com/maXMKSUCkY

— Air India Express (@FlyWithIX) April 19, 2021

The certificate must also indicate a negative test result, written in either Arabic or English, and must be issued by a certified lab at the original country from where the passenger is traveling.

The airline added that it is also mandatory that the report includes a QR code which is linked to the original report, which in turn can be scanned and verified by the airline.

On arrival in Dubai, the Dubai Health Authority will also use the QR code to verify the report.