Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia suspends travel to and from India


NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia has suspended all travel to and from the corona outbreak hotspots in India, Brazil and Argentina. The temporary restriction applies to anyone who has been in these countries 14 days before the expected date of entry into Saudi Arabia and also to general aviation (charter flights and private jets). The only exception, according to the Saudi Arabian General Civil Aviation Authority (GACA) order issued on Tuesday, are “passengers who have official government invitations.”
With India reporting nearly a lakh of Corona cases daily, travel restrictions are coming fast now.
Last Sunday (September 20), Hong Kong asked Air India for the second time not to operate flights there for two weeks until October 3. The reason is that a significant number of passengers from India tested positive upon arrival in Hong Kong. Last month, Hong Kong banned Air India flights for two weeks after 11 passengers who flew from Delhi on August 14 tested positive upon arrival.
Cathay Pacific also does not operate in India during the pandemic. Hong Kong temporarily suspended Cathay Dragon (Cathay’s regional arm) flights on the Kuala Lumpur route. Five people flew AI Express to Malaysia and then took a connecting flight to Hong Kong, where they tested positive upon arrival, according to those reports.
Last week, Dubai aviation authorities had decided to suspend AI Express operations to the city for 15 days after the budget airline carried passengers twice with positive reports of Covid from India.
Following an apology from AI Express and assurance that the same will not happen again, the Dubai civil aviation authority revoked this suspension.

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