Kuwait City: Contingent on the pace of the vaccine roll-out, Kuwait International Airport is expected to open gradually by the end of June, a local newspaper reported.
While the airport will resume operations, all passengers arriving to Kuwait must be vaccinated with one of the four vaccines approved by Kuwait’s Ministry of Health - Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
Given that non-Kuwaitis are barred from entering Kuwait, an informed source told the newspaper it is expected that once the airport resumes regular activity, non-Kuwaitis who are vaccinated, with one of the approved vaccines, will be able to travel to Kuwait.
As for those who got jabs that are not authorised, the source added a plan is being drawn up to administer a single dose of one of the approved vaccines.
Barred passengers
Non-Kuwaitis are still barred from entering Kuwait until further notice after the government issued a ban on February 7.
Then on May 10, the government announced passengers arriving from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are barred from entering Kuwait until further notice. Passengers are only allowed in if they quarantine in another country for at least 14 days.
Airport capacity
On May 22, the Kuwait airport increased its daily traveller capacity to 5,000 passengers, as there is anticipation that there will be more airline traffic during the summer season.
The airport has been operating on a 1,000 passenger cap per day for the past six months, since January 1.
No vaccine, no travel
As of May 22, all Kuwaitis that are not vaccinated are barred from travelling.
Those who are permitted to travel are the following: (i) those who have got both doses and two weeks have passed since the second dose; (ii) those who have got one dose and five weeks have passed; and (iii) those who have got the first dose then got COVID-19 can travel two weeks after testing positive.
Those that are exempt from the decision are: pregnant women, those who have a certificate from the Ministry of Health stating their inability to receive the vaccine due to health conditions, children under the eligible age, students studying abroad and members of the diplomatic core.
