Saudi Arabia suspends UAE flights due to virus variant

Flights to and from Ethiopia and Vietnam also banned without prior permission from authorities.

Saudi Arabia has said it is suspending flights to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ethiopia and Vietnam to protect against a coronavirus variant. The move announced on Saturday came seven weeks after the kingdom permitted fully immunised citizens to travel abroad following a ban on foreign trips that lasted more than a year. Flights to the three countries will be halted from Sunday at 11pm, the state news agency SPA quoted an interior ministry official as saying. Saudi citizens and residents returning from these countries will be required to quarantine for 14 days, it added.