Female UAE expats face new visa curbs to travel to Oman

From : Arabian Business

Non-GCC female UAE residents have been banned from travelling to parts of Oman without the permission of their employer or male relative.

The conservative UAE emirate Sharjah quietly introduced the new requirement last month. The regulation applies only at the Dibba border crossing with Oman, Sharjah’s only international land border, which is popular with UAE expats travelling to the picturesque Zighy Bay or joining a dhow cruise. It means female expats living in the UAE who do not have a passport from one of the other five Gulf Cooperation Council countries will need a no objection letter from their sponsor, typically either their employer or husband.

It does not apply to those on tourist visas.

The female visa follows a broader visa requirement introduced in September last year that requires every UAE resident that is not a GCC citizen to receive an Omani tourist visa in advance if they cross at Dibba. The restrictions are impacting on tourism operators near the Dibba border, many of whom rely on last minute bookings from UAE expats unaware of the new procedures. Sheesha Beach Travel and Tourism public relations manager Dylan Mangan said the new requirements were a “serious, serious” problem affecting the dhow cruise operator’s business, which relied on UAE expats for about 70 percent of its business.

“The majority of our business is from expats so it’s a huge, huge thing that’s going on. It’s driving us crazy,” Mangan said. The changes also were driving away business from large tour operators who were now choosing other activities to fill their itineraries. “We’ve got to get large numbers of people over the border and due to the new rules in place if all the passports, visas and letters etcetera aren’t given to us within a week of departure it’s even more difficult to get them across,” Mangan said. “It’s a serious headache in our eyes.”

Luxury resort Six Senses, on the shores of Zighy Bay, also is expecting the advance visa requirement to impact its business during the summer.
Spokeswoman Monica Majors said there had been little impact since the broader rule was introduced in September because majority of the resorts’ guests were from Europe and travelling on a tourist visa.

But they were concerned that the effects would be felt during summer when they relied on weekend escapes by UAE expats. Majors said many coming from the UAE booked at the last minute but that would now be too difficult, meaning the resort would lose business. Most potential clients were unaware of the new requirements and therefore did not book far enough in advance. “The problem is that they don’t publish the changes and regulations,” Majors said.
“We can’t entertain that last minute business because we won’t be able to assist our guests ... to ensure there are no issues at the border.”

The advance visa also is costing Six Senses Zighy Bay because the resort has chosen to process the visa free of charge for its clients in a bid to avoid any confusion at the border. A copy of the passport and UAE residence visa needs to be sent to the resort at least four days in advance. Women also need to send their letter of no objection, unless they are travelling with their husband, father or brother.

Sharjah authorities could not be reached for comment.

Fly Dubai (low cost carrier) starts operations

Flydubai, Dubai’s first low-cost airline began its commercial operations on June 1st.

The inaugural flight took off from Dubai International’s Terminal 2 at 10:30 bound for Beirut.

FlyDubai is currently flying to Beirut and Amman. They will start flights to Damascus and Alexandria next week and plan to expand rapidly to countries in the Middle East, GCC and India. The evenutal plan as stated on their website is to extend to Iran, Eastern Europe and North & East Africa.

Fares are really low. For eg there is currently a flight from Alexandria to Dubai for 825(LE) Egyptian pounds. When I checked a week ago. A return flight between Cairo and Dubai was roughly costing about 3000LE on Emirates airlines and 2100LE on Egypt Air.

How does flydubai keep its fares low?
1. The tickets are one way tickets for one person, priced on a system based on availability, demand, time of day etc etc. Quoted prices include all applicable taxes. Prices will be quoted in the currency of the country of departure of the flight
2. You pay to change: If for some reason, you need to change your flight, you pay 100dhs per ticket plus the price difference from your original ticket if upwards and get a voucher refunded to you if the price moves downwards. You do have to pay the 100dhs charge per ticket, no matter what the scenario. (There are "free to change" tickets too, but these are normally priced higher than "pay to change")
3. Changes or cancellations can only be carried out 24 hours prior to the flight. Any later than that, you lose the whole amount.
4. Children above the age of 2, pay full fare.
5. If traveling with a child below the age of 2, there is a service charge of 50dhs plus taxes.
6. Fares are lower if you book from the website. A service charge is levied if you book via their dedicated call center (35dhs) or through an agent.
7. The quoted fare allows you upto 10kilos of hand baggage. You have to pay higher for more luggage. If you pre book your extra luggage on the website, it will be cheaper than just arriving at the airport and then paying for the luggage.
For eg: Your 1st piece of checked in baggage (upto 32 kilos) if pre booked online will cost 40dhs, but if you do it at the airport, it will cost you 150 dhs. The 2nd piece will cost 100 and 150 respectively.
8. If you want to select your seat, you pay 5dhs.
9. If you want a seat with extra legroom, it is 50 dhs.
10. A boarding pass is issued as soon as you book your ticket.

In these times of Recession, this airline could really take off, if they find a large enough market segment.

As I see it, business and holiday travelers without much luggage could find this airline cheaper than its competitors.

For those people I have often seen in the Dubai airport ahead of me, trying to check in 5-7 suitcases each on Egypt Air flights back to Cairo while trying to semi-conceal another 4-6 pieces of hand luggage, this would not be an economical choice.

Nor would it work for people who travel to Dubai with the primary purpose of shopping. I have seen so many piles of new clothes and childrens toys unceremoniously dumped in heaps at Dubai's airport, because paying the excess baggage fee on Emirates airlines does not make those clothes and toys worth it. People seem to find it cheaper to just dump the stuff (some with tags not yet removed) than pay the excess baggae fee. These people aren't going to be travely FlyDubai any time soon.

This will work for people who just carry their laptop and a change of clothes or two. Its also just 40dhs more for 1 piece of checked in baggae provided you book it online at the time of booking your ticket. So this option will work for a weeks long travel.

I wonder if the airline allows toiletries in hand luggage with the above restrictions that they have placed. If they dont, it would be cheaper to buy and discard toiletries on arrival than pay 100dhs to check it in.

They must have researched their pricing before coming out with this strategy. It will be interesting to see how full their flights go. There is a large market, given that it is still impossible to get a ticket on a Thursday evening Emirates flight from Dubai to Cairo, if you haven't booked well in advance.

You can book tickets directly on their site:
http://flydubai.com/


Also Published on desicritics.org

Controlled substances (medicines) in the UAE

So many of the substances and medicines that we easily take into other countries are not allowed in the UAE without proper prescriptions to accompany them.

There is no official list available on what these controlled substances are, but this website has made an attempt to list all the substances that they know of.

Its a really useful site to check before you make a trip to the UAE, because that harmless cold & flu medicine you got over the counter in most countries could land you in a lot of trouble.

http://www.fairtrials.net/index.php/news/article/list_of_controlled_pharmaceutical_substances_in_uae/