Sri Lanka temporarily bans passengers from Gulf, including Qatar

Doha: Sri Lanka has decided to temporarily ban passengers from Gulf countries. 

“In accordance with instructions received from the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID- 19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Task Force, due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation all online and offline airlines are hereby directed that passengers with a travel history in the past 14 days to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka with effect from 0001hrs on 1st July 2021 (local time in Sri Lanka). This restriction will be in force until 2359hrs on 13th July 2021 (local time in Sri Lanka),” Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka said.

Passengers transiting via the above mentioned countries are permitted.

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Due to the disembarkation restrictions Sri Lankan airlines has advanced the timing of two its flights from Doha to Colombo.  

The move will likely impact several Sri Lankans expatriates seeking to return from the Gulf. 

According to local media reports the decision was taken as over 100 passengers from Gulf were tested Covid-19 positive.

As seen on Peninsula Qatar  Image Credits Peninsula Qatar