Saudi Arabia suspends international flights amid new coronavirus strain
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) on Monday announced that all the international flights services will remain suspended for a week over fears about the fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus. Besides, the administration has also suspended entry through its land and seaports for at least a week.
The Kingdom’s interior ministry has said the one-week flight ban may be extended “until medical information about the nature of this virus becomes clear.”
The government ordered anyone who has returned from or passed through a European country over the past three months to get tested for Covid-19 immediately.
The ministry added that the travel suspension will not affect the country’s cargo flights and supply chains.
The development comes after several European countries banned travel from Britain on Sunday as the UK government warned that a highly infectious new strain of the virus was "out of control".
Recently, Kuwait also announced a ban on Sunday on passenger flights from Britain over the new strain of the virus.
