Manama :Kuwait’s civil aviation authority suspended direct commercial flights coming from India where Covid daily tally now stands at world's highest.
The indefinite suspension went into effect on Saturday morning. The decision was on the instructions of arabhealth authorities after an evaluation of the global Covid-19 status.
Passengers arriving from India either directly or through another country is banned from entering unless they have stayed at least 14 days in a third country, civil aviation said in a statement.
Kuwaiti nationals, their first-degree relatives and their domestic workers are exempted from the restrictions. Cargo flights will continue, as usual.
Iran has also decided to ban travellers from India and Pakistan from Sunday midnight.
Kuwait has become the latest to ban travellers from India, after Iran, the UAE, Oman, Indonesia, the UK, France, the US, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and New Zealand after India recorded its highest daily Covid deaths and some hospitals ran out of oxygen.
The UAE had already announced on Thursday that it would suspend flights to and from India from Sunday. The emirate is known to be the busiest route for all international flights from India. Following the decision, all inbound flights for national and international carriers from India will be affected.
Meanwhile, Bahrain has announced that all passengers arriving from, or transiting through, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh must provide proof of negative PCR test starting from April 27. The test must have been taken within 48 hours prior to the departure.
Expatriate workers make up some 70 percent of Kuwait’s population and include hundreds of thousands of Indians.
