Sep 4, 2020
Emirates will resume daily passenger flights to Amman next week as Jordan reopens its main airport six months after its closure due to the novel coronavirus.Â
Beginning Sept. 8, three-hour flights between Dubai and the Jordanian capital will operate on an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, the Dubai-owned airline said in a statement Friday. All passengers arriving or passing through Dubai must have obtained a negative COVID-19 test no more than 96 hours before departure, the airline said.Â
After suspending all flights in March, Emirates slowly began to rebuild its flight network in May, with flights to nine destinations in North America, Europe and Australia. The addition of Amman extends the air carrier’s network to eight cities in the Middle East and brings the total number of destinations to 82.Â
The resumed flights to Amman coincide with the reopening of the city’s Queen Alia International Airport, which closed to commercial traffic in mid-March.Â
Under the current guidelines, passengers arriving to Jordan from a designated list of countries will be required to quarantine for two weeks and pass a COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours before their arrival. Travelers from “red-listed†countries must also wear tracking bracelets during their home quarantine.Â
Incoming passengers from Canada, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and Tunisia do not need to quarantine upon arrival as long as they present a negative COVID-19 test.Â
Since imposing one of the world’s harshest lockdowns in March, Jordan has weathered the pandemic better than its neighbors. The government began to ease restrictions in late April, but amid fears of a second wave, Jordan extended its overnight curfew last month.Â
On Sunday, Jordan reported 73 new COVID-19 cases in what the Health Ministry said was the country’s single-day tally since the start of the outbreak. Seventy-two more cases Friday bring the total number to 2,333 and 15 deaths.Â
