Iran, Kuwait ban flights from India

Tehran/Dubai: Iran's state-run IRNA news agency is reporting the country's civil aviation agency has banned all flights to and from India and Pakistan because of the dramatic surge in Coronavirus cases in the two nations.

Kuwait too on Saturday suspended all direct commercial flights coming from India until further notice. IRNA says the decision was made by Iran's Health Ministry and it takes effect Saturday at midnight.

Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh, spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization noted there are no routine flights between Iran and India and flights are operated occasionally. Several other countries in the region, including the sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait, also have banned flights to and from India over the rise in coronavirus cases there.

Zibakhsh said flights to and from 41 countries already were prohibited in Iran, while those who want to fly to other countries listed as high risk are required to have a coronavirus test in Iran. Travelers over 8 years old need to submit a negative PCR test within 96 hours of departure and do another test on arrival. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 18,230 new confirmed cases over 24 hours, bringing Iran's total on Saturday to more than 2,377,000.

Kuwait's directorate general of civil aviation said that it had suspended all direct commercial flights coming from India, effective April 24.

All passengers arriving from India either directly or via another country will be banned from entering unless they have spent at least 14 days out of India, it said in a statement on Twitter. Kuwaiti citizens, their first degree relatives and their domestic workers will be allowed to enter the country.

Operations of freight flights will continue, it said.

Over one million Indian community members live in Kuwait, the largest expatriate community in the country, according to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait. Earlier, the UK, the UAE and Canada announced ban flights from India amid the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country.

Meanwhile, the UAE on Friday updated its travel ban for India, saying that all incoming flights on national and foreign carriers from the country will be suspended, while transportation of passengers from the Gulf country to India will be allowed.

The UAE on Thursday banned travel from India for 10 days from Sunday due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country.

The UAE's General Authority of Civil Aviation and the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) announced an update on regulations with the clarification that entry from India will be suspended for all incoming flights on national and foreign carriers.