RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has temporarily stopped its citizens to travel to Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and other countries by suspending travel permissions in order to curb the spread of novel coronavirus, ARY News reported on Friday.
Saudi Arabia has increased the travel restrictions on Pakistan, India, Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka by banning the arrival of passengers from the countries.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued a notification to the airlines operating from and to the airports of Saudi Arabia regarding the imposition of new travel curbs on different countries including Pakistan and India following the fresh wave of coronavirus.
Besides banning the entry of the passengers, the aviation authority gave a time limit of 72 hours to the Saudi citizens and Iqama holders to return to Saudi Arabia.
Read: Saudi Arabia says COVID-19 vaccination mandatory to perform Umrah in Ramazan
The temporary travel restrictions were also imposed on European countries and Switzerland that suspends all flights to and from the states.
Earlier in March, Saudi Arabia had extended its ban on the arrival of passengers from international flights till May 17 due to novel coronavirus.
Saudi Arabia had imposed a temporary ban on incoming passengers from 20 countries, however, citizens were exempted from the travel restrictions. Moreover, the kingdom had given relaxation in limited flight operations for the evacuation of Pakistani citizens.
Salahuddin serves as ARY News' aviation correspondent
