COVID-19: Kuwait airport witnessing 'normal and successful traffic', says Al Otaibi

Cairo: A total of 42,410 passengers, including 28,414 departing travellers, have used Kuwait airport since its reopening for commercial flights on August 1, a Kuwaiti aviation official has said.

The travellers have been transported on 534 flights, including 285 for departure from Kuwait, Saad Al Otaibi, the spokesman for Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), told Al Jarida newspaper in remarks published Friday.

“The Kuwaiti airport is witnessing normal and successful traffic,” he said.

According to the official, all passengers arriving in Kuwait, whether citizens or expatriates, have to present a PCR coronavirus-detecting test certificate in English, issued by one of the laboratories accredited by authorities concerned in Kuwait with its validity no longer than 72 hours from the date the sample was taken, proving that the passenger is free of the virus.

In June, the Kuwaiti government approved a three-stage plan to resume commercial flights in and out of Kuwait starting August 1, with 30 per cent of the airport’s normal capacity.

In the second phase starting on February 1 for six more months, Kuwait airport will operate at 60 per cent of its normal capacity.

The expected numbers of passengers in that phase are not to exceed 20,000 per day on a maximum number of flights of 200. The third phase beginning in August next year will mark areturn to full capacity.

Entry banned

Earlier this month, Kuwait announced banning entry of travellers from 31 “high-risk” countries until further notice on instructions from Kuwaiti health authorities.

Al Otaibi said DGCA has made no changes to the ban list. “Health authorities revise the decision thoroughly every 10 days in order to see how the health conditions have improved in those countries,” he said.

Those countries include India, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Philippines that have large communities of expatriates in Kuwait.