Saudi Arabia lifts flight ban, can Indonesian pilgrims depart from Umrah? All pages

KOMPAS.com – The government of Saudi Arabia on Sunday (1/3/2021) officially lifted the temporary closure of flights that was imposed two weeks ago.

The closure was previously carried out to prevent the entry of a new variant of the coronavirus from the United Kingdom.

The reopening of international flights is contained in a circular issued by the Saudi Arabian Civil Aviation Authority (GACA) No.4 / 36252 on Sunday (1/3/2021).

“Lifting the suspension of flights and international visits to the Kingdom (Saudi Arabia). Airlines can return to transport passengers,” says the circular.

Also read: The return of flights to Saudi Arabia was allowed

The director of the Umrah of the Muslim Association of Hajj and Umrah Organizers of the Republic of Indonesia (Amphuri), Zaki Zakaria, said that with the issuance of the new regulation, the pilgrims of the Umrah of Indonesia could return to the Holy Land.

“Then airport Indonesia opened for international flights on January 14, 2021, Umrah can return, “Zaki said in a written statement received. Kompas.com, Sunday (1/3/2021).

The Indonesian embassy in Riyadh also publishes the latest information on flight conditions in Saudi Arabia through its Facebook page.

Also read: Saudi Arabia closes flights, here is an update on the fate of Indonesian pilgrims from Umrah who canceled their departure

Rescheduling

Previously, the departure of Indonesian pilgrims from Umrah on December 21, 2020 was delayed because Saudi Arabia closed all international flights for a week.

As reported Kompas.comOn December 22, 2020, the delay caused the schedule for the departure of Indonesian pilgrims to be rescheduled or rescheduled.

Zaki Zakariya said that the number of pilgrims who delayed their departure on December 21, 2020 from Amphuri was around 20 people.

Meanwhile, from all the associations and trips, information obtained by Zaki from the general consul (consul general) there were about 75 pilgrims who were delayed.

Opening of international flights

Launching Arab news, Sunday (1/3/2021) in addition to reopening access to international flights, GACA circular No.4 / 36252 also contains several other provisions, namely:

• Foreigners (WNA) coming from the United Kingdom, South Africa and other countries, which according to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health have experienced the spread of a new variant of the corona virus, must wait 14 days before entering Saudi Arabia, bringing the PCR test results. done after the waiting period is over.

• Then, for humanitarian reasons and the emergency situation, the citizens of Saudi Arabia can enter with a quarantine requirement of 14 days in their respective homes and perform two PCR tests, that is, within 48 hours and on the 13th day after of arrival.

Also read: Saudi Arabia closes all international flights for fear of a new variant of Corona

As reported Kompas.comOn Monday (12/21/2020), Saudi Arabia previously temporarily closed all international flights for a week to prevent transmission of the new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 corona virus.

In addition to international flights, entrances to Saudi Arabia through ports and land routes were also closed for the same time period.

According to information from the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the decision to temporarily shut down was made after the discovery of new strains of the corona virus in Britain and Europe, which were known to be more contagious.

However, as of now, according to the WHO, there is no evidence that this strain of virus behaves differently from existing viruses.