Saudi Arabia Halts Travel To UAE Over Concerns Of “New Mutated Strain”
According to Arabian Business, the travel ban will start at 23:00 GST on Sunday, July 4
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has issued a new travel ban, preventing Saudi citizens from visiting not one, but three countries.
Saudis will not be allowed to visit the UAE, Ethiopia or Vietnam for the foreseeable future, “…with the continued ban on direct and indirect travel of citizens to the previously announced countries” according to the country’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).
Citizens returning from those three countries, along with Afghanistan, will need to quarantine for fourteen days upon arrival into the country.
GACA issues instructions to air carriers regarding the prevention of direct, or indirect travel of citizens to a number of countries and the suspension of entry from them. pic.twitter.com/gLDwxBAQZj
— هيئة الطيران المدني (@ksagaca) July 3, 2021
According to Arabian Business, this travel ban has been rolled out “. . . following concerns over a ‘new mutated strain’ of coronavirus.”
All travellers, including Saudi nationals, arriving in the kingdom after the date of July 5 willhave to under undergo “mandatory institutional quarantine.”
These restrictions, however, will not apply to individuals who have visited and left the countries (and any other countries which have been banned for travel) at least 14 days before arriving in Saudi Arabia, according to the business magazine.
@emirates Any update about this for flight schedule pic.twitter.com/EDX9sZqK0j
— Faizal (@Faizal53402478) July 4, 2021
A statement on Emirates’s website states that flights to and from Saudi Arabia will be “suspended until further notice.”
Check back soon for more information.
Lead image courtesy of Instagram/@sarashakeel