10,000 Egyptians, 5,000 Indians can enter Kuwait on direct flights every week

Kuwait City: After the Kuwaiti government lifted the ban on passengers travelling directly from six countries to Kuwait, the Civil Aviation authorities announced they have determined the number of seats allocated from Egypt and India per week.

Direct flights from Egypt, operated by both Kuwaiti and Egyptian airlines, will have the capacity to carry 10,000 passengers a week. As for India, the Civil Aviation dictated that between Kuwaiti and Indian flights they can allocate seats for 5,000 passengers per week.

In terms of the other four countries, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Civil Aviation has yet to set the perimeters for the number of passengers on direct flights.

A source told the daily the government is mulling increasing daily capacity at Kuwait’s airport from 7,500 to 10,000 passengers, as demand for travel increases.

Travel requirements

Since August 1, expats can enter Kuwait as long as they have received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Only those with a valid residency permit will be allowed into the country.

This comes after Kuwait put in place a seven-month ban on non-Kuwaitis entering the country.

As for Kuwaitis, starting August 1, only those who have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to travel outside the country. Those who are exempt from the decision are children under the eligible age group, pregnant women and people who cannot take the vaccine due to health issues.

The rules differ for residents holding an Article 20 visa, which is specific for domestic workers. They are free to travel to Kuwait even if not vaccinated, but need to follow certain regulations. For those who are unvaccinated, they need to quarantine in a hotel in Kuwait for 14-days.

For those who took a vaccine not approved by Kuwait’s Ministry of Health, the government stated last month passengers who received two doses of Sinopharm, Sinovac and Sputnik vaccines can only enter the country if they take a third dose of one of the vaccines approved by Kuwait.

PCR test

Prior to arrival, all passengers need to prove a negative PCR test conducted no more than 72 hours before arrival. In addition, they need to download the Kuwait Mosafer and Shlonik applications.

Once in Kuwait, all vaccinated passengers need to quarantine for one week. If people do not want to be quarantined for the whole week, they need to do a PCR test in Kuwait and once the negative result is out they can end their quarantine.