Tennis star Novak Djokovic has returned to his native Belgrade via Emirates to Dubai connecting on Flydubai to Belgrade after a judge upheld the Australian government’s decision to revoke his visa and deport him. Djokovic is unvaccinated.
Novak Djokovic Flies Emirates + Flydubai To Belgrade After Australia Deportation
Djokovic’s immigration saga dragged on for over a week as Australia weighed whether to allow the tennis star to remain and compete in the Australia Open. Djokovic is unvaccinated, but claims to have recovered from COVID-19 in the last month, which ostensibly qualifies him under Australian complex immigration rules to enter the country.
However, the Australian government elected to exercise its discretionary power to revoke his visa and last night the Australian Border Force escorted him from his quarantine hotel to the airport and then to the boarding gate.
Djokovic then boarded an Emirates 777-300ER, EK409, from Melbourne (MEL) to Dubai (DXB). The flight left at 10:51pm and arrived into Dubai this morning at 5:31am after a flight time of about 14 hours.
After landing in Dubai, Djokovic connected to a Flydubai 737 8 MAX to Belgrade (BEG), traveling on FZ1745 and departing at 9:42am. The flight arrived into Nikola Tesla Airport at 12:21pm after a flight of just under six hours.
Djokovic did not do himself a favor by not wearing his mask properly onboard his connection to BEG in business class:
New rule. You don’t have to wear a mask when you’re reading or eating on the plane. #Djokovich #djokovic #Lacoste #Djokovid #NovakDjokovic #NoVaxDjoCovid pic.twitter.com/ervMWhVBNv
— King of Malibu 🇺🇸🇷🇸 (@extrajohntra) January 17, 2022
In electing to depart Djokovic, Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said:
Today I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the…