Sri Lanka temporarily bans passengers from Qatar, other Gulf countries

The Sri Lankan authorities have announced a temporary ban on passengers coming from Gulf countries. This comes into effect at 12.01am on July 1 and continues until 11.59pm on July 13, Sri Lankan time. In a notice posted on social media on Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka said: "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, the director-general of Civil Aviation, Capt Themiya Abeywickrama, has informed all airlines 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)." Passengers transiting via the above-mentioned countries are permitted. Following the announcement, SriLankan Airlines said it has advanced the schedules of two Doha-Colombo flights due to the disembarkation restrictions.