Transit at Abu Dhabi Airport from Europe to India

Question

I have a flight(WizzAir) from Rome to Abu Dhabi on 6th November and a layover of 4 hours and then a subsequent flight to Delhi (India). Is 4 hours sufficient time to do the self-transfer? Both the flights are from Abu Dhabi Terminal A. I will need to do a self-transfer at the airport, collect baggage and check-in again. Can anyone help me with the complete process of transit and self transfer. I have an Indian passport. I have a valid USA tourist visa. What the process of getting a transit visa?

Answer 1

The UAE only allows transit visas if you are flying with UAE-based airlines. Wizz Air is not UAE-based, so you are not eligible for a transit visa.

You will need to get a regular UAE visa, or better yet, cancel these flights and choose an actual, guaranteed connection instead. Your current 4 hours is risky, if your incoming flight is delayed or cancelled you'll be stuck.

Answer 2

I'll start with the visa:

The official government website tells us:

Indian citizens

Indian citizens holding a normal passport and either

• a visit visa issued by the USA or
• a green card issued by the USA or
• a residence visa issued by the UK or
• a residence visa issued by the EU

can obtain a visa on arrival for a maximum stay of 14 days provided that the visas or the green card is valid for at least six months from the date of arrival into the UAE.

Likewise, Timatic (via the Emirates website) tells us:

Nationals of India with a normal passport valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date with a visa issued by the USA which is valid for a minimum of 6 months can obtain a visa on arrival for a maximum stay of 14 days. They can apply before departure at https://tinyurl.com/5b7ww4kd . They can apply to extend their stay for an additional 14 days.

So, provided your US visa and your passport are both valid for 6 months from your date of entry into the UAE, you can use visa on arrival, or probably want to use the linked application form beforehand as it's pretty long.

There's a 100 AED fee for the visa on arrival.

Now about timing:

You need to have finished check-in/bag drop before the check-in deadline. You haven't told us which airline you are flying from Abu Dhabi to Delhi, but if it's Indigo, that's 75 minutes before departure for international flights.

That means that if the time between your flights is 4 hours, and the first flight arrives on time, you would have 2h45 to:

• Deplane
• Get to passport control
• Get your visa on arrival
• Queue and go through immigration
• Wait for your bags
• Go to departures
• Find the right check-in area
• Queue

If you don't, you'll be considered a no-show, and your ticket is likely to be cancelled with no refund. In that case, you would have to find and buy a new ticket at your own expense, at the last minute (usually a lot more expensive). Any costs in the meantime (hotels, meals, etc.) are for you. Any extras (checked luggage, seat selection...) would also have to be paid again.

I have no idea how quick and efficient (or not) the visa-on-arrival process is (including whether you have separate processes for the visa-on-arrival and then immigration or if it's a single process, nor whether using the online application beforehand saves you some part of the process) and how long the queues take, so I can't tell you if there's ample time or not in normal circumstances. But if your incoming flight is late, it will probably become quite difficult.

Here's the history of the FCO-AUH flight (guessing it's Wizz Air 7050) these last few days:

• 11/10: 4h02 late
• 12/10: 22 minutes late
• 13/10: 10 minutes late
• 14/10: 9 minutes late
• 15/10: 27 minutes early
• 16/10: on time
• 17/10: 32 minutes late
• 18/10: 15 minutes late
• 19/10: 21 minutes late
• 20/10: 43 minutes late
• 21/10: 2h39 late
• 22/10: on time

I'm sure you understand that twice in this list you would not have made this connection (for sure), and a few other times it would have seriously reduced your margin.

Also remember that if either airline cancels their flight or adjusts its schedule in an incompatible way, you are in a pickle as well.

I strongly recommend you either rebook as a single-ticket itinerary (you wouldn't have to collect/re-check your bags or go through immigration) or with quite a lot more margin.