COVID-19: No Objection Certificate mandatory for travellers coming to Oman

Muscat: As Oman gets ready for the resumption of commercial airline operations from October 1, many checks and inspections are happening in the airports in the country. These inspections are done to ensure COVID-19 compliance and preparedness of airports when airlines resume their normal services.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Oman conducted an assessment of the Duqum Airport today and an announcement will soon be shared about the schedule of flights that will be operated from October 1.

The Oman Airports said in an announcement that it is preparing to receive travellers as services are being resumed in a gradual manner. The airlines operating from Oman, namely, Oman Air and Salam Air will resume their services from the aforementioned date, although in a limited scale with reduced frequency of flights and reduced destinations.

The new set of rules mandates those entering Oman from October 1, to get a PCR test done after arrival. Additionally, arriving passengers must also be insured to cover the cost of at least 30-days of COVID-19 treatment should the need arise. The rules further state that symptomatic passengers will be taken to designated clinics. Permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the sponsor of the company where the traveller works are also mandatory requirement without which a person cannot travel. The soft copy of the NOC has to be shown before boarding at the port of embarkation and produced if and when asked by the concerned authorities during the course of journey and also at the disembarkation point. A 14-day quarantine is also compulsory, during which time the whereabouts and movements of the person will be monitored by a wearable monitoring band.

While the renewal of resident visas are being done online by the sponsoring companies, issuance of new resident visa, visit and tourist visa have not commenced and a decision by the Supreme Committee on the same is being awaited, per a report in a local English daily.