New Zealand Downgrades Travel Advisories For Several Middle East Countries Due To MOU

Niva
Chittock
WorldWatch Presenter/Producer

The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has downgraded
travel advisories for seven Middle Eastern countries
following the memorandum of understanding between the United
States and Iran being reached.

In a statement, a MFAT
spokesperson said “the risk of military strikes and armed
conflict in the Middle East may reduce” under the deal,
which was officially
signed on Thursday.

It included
a 60 day ceasefire while further
negotiations on a final deal took place, the immediate
and total re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz and a possible
pathway for sanctions on Iran to be lifted.

“Our
advice level for the majority of Gulf states has returned to
pre-conflict levels,” they said.

During the conflict,
advice for most of the Middle East was either at Level Four
– Do Not Travel or Level Three – Avoid Non-Essential
Travel.

MFAT had now returned Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
to Level Two – Exercise Increased Caution.

The
spokesperson said the ministry’s travel advice was regularly
reviewed and “balances a range of factors, including the
security environment and safety risks to New
Zealanders”.

“New Zealanders in the region should
remain vigilant and register on SafeTravel to receive any
updates to our travel advice,” they said.

Israel,
Iran, Lebanon
and the Palestinian territories remained at Level Four – Do
Not Travel.

Some stranded
New Zealanders in the Middle East told RNZ in March they
felt abandoned by MFAT while fighting raged.

The
government said at the time it was working
around the clock on plans to help New
Zealanders.

Supply chain and travel disruptions
remain

In a separate release on the Safe Travel
website on Friday, MFAT warned that while military strikes
and armed conflict may reduce under the agreement,
disruptions to global
supply chains would continue.

It said some
countries had introduced fuel-preservation measures and
travellers may experience flight delays or cancellations,
changes to flight schedules or aircraft types, disruptions
to local transport and restrictions on purchasing
fuel.

MFAT also warned of “shortages or reduced
availability of essential goods such as food, water and
medicines”.

The ministry urged those planning travel
to the Middle East to stay up to date with communications
from their airline, keep across developments in the region
and check travel advice for all parts of the trip, including
every place they were visiting and transit points – not just
the final destination.

It also directed people not to
cancel flights until professional advice was received
because there could be limited options.

Travellers
should also check their travel insurance carefully for
coverage related to “conflict, delays, cancellations and
changes to travel advice levels”, MFAT said.

Emirates
resumes full NZ capacity

Dubai-based airline Emirates
resumed daily flights to Auckland on Thursday, after
temporarily reducing capacity due to the US-Iran
war.

Emirates said the restoration of daily Auckland
flights meant the airline was now back to full capacity out
of New Zealand.

It maintained its daily services to
Christchurch via Sydney for most of the crisis, which saw
the UAE being targeted by Iranian missiles.

The
airline had also released its own comprehensive travel
insurance, which was available to New Zealand.

In a
statement, Emirates said the cover included “medical cover
for conflict-related incidents, backed by airline-managed
hotel accommodation and extended-stay support across a range
of disruption scenarios”.

“When itineraries include
connecting on other airlines or Emirates services are
unavailable, Emirates will also rebook disrupted customers
to their destination at no additional cost, including where
flights have been cancelled due to conflict-related
disruption,” the statement said.

The statement did not
detail how much the cover would
cost.

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