Covid-19 travel update: Saudi Arabia ends ban on flights from India, Egypt, Pakistan

Travellers will need a valid PCR test certificate and must register on the Qdoom platform

FILE PHOTO: Passengers talk to airline employees at Riyadh International Airport, after Saudi Arabia reopened domestic flights, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia REUTERS

By Web Desk

Published: Thu 2 Dec 2021, 1:52 PM

Last updated: Thu 2 Dec 2021, 2:56 PM

Saudi Arabia’s ban on direct travel from several countries ended on Wednesday, as the Kingdom continues to relax pandemic-related travel restrictions.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed that starting from one o’clock in the morning of Wednesday, the suspension of direct entry will be lifted from 6 countries, reports state news agency SPA.

Travellers from six countries — India, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil and Vietnam — can now arrive in the Kingdom without having to spend 14 days outside those countries before entering Saudi Arabia.

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The travellers will need a valid PCR test certificate and must register on the Qdoom platform 72 hours before their flight departs.

They will also need to enter institutional quarantine for five days when they arrive, regardless of their immunization status outside of the Kingdom.

They will also need to take tests on the first and fifth days of their quarantine.

Though Saudi Arabia has eased travel from some destinations, it has been forced to implement new restrictions on some African countries after a concerning new Covid-19 variant, omicron, was detected in South Africa last week.

Important arrival procedures:

Presenting a valid PCR certificate 72 hours before the flight.
Register on the Qdoom platform.
The application of an institutional quarantine procedures for a period of 5 days, regardless of the immunization status outside the Kingdom.
Adherence to taking a medical swab on the first and fifth days of the institutional quarantine.