Kuwait City: The Director General of the Directorate of Civil Aviation, Yousef Al Fawzan, requested that the Ministry of Health reduce the quarantine period of travellers arriving to Kuwait to 7 days from 14 days.
The letter, addressed to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, proposed that the quarantine period be reduced, while the health requirements, especially providing a PCR certificate prior to departure, remain in place.
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If the proposal is to be approved, this could be a positive economic outcome for the travel industry and will revive airlines as people will have more of an incentive to travel.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director General for Airport Affairs, Saleh Al Fadaghi, revealed to Al Qabas that once a COVID-19 vaccine is available in the country, all travel restrictions will be lifted and the airport will resume to a 100 per cent capacity.
Currently, the Kuwait International Airport is operating at a 30 per cent capacity.
Travel restrictions and exemptions
The Executive Committee for the Restarting of Commercial Flights decided to exempt aircraft and technical crew from the mandatory 14-day home quarantine. In coordination with the Ministry of Health, aircraft staff and crew will be continuously examined and tested to ensure all health precautions are taken.
Last week, The Ministry of Health sent a list of names of stranded health professionals to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to return them to Kuwait, Al Jarida reported. There are around 500 doctors, technicians and nurses stuck abroad.
In addition, last week Saleh Al Fadaghi revealed that the Ministry of Health has received a proposal to allow travellers arriving from the 34 banned countries to quarantine in facilities in Kuwait instead of abroad, Al Anba reported. Al Fadaghi said that the Minister of Health, Dr. Basel Al Sabah, is reviewing the proposal and will come to a decision.
Travel ban
Last week, the Cabinet of Ministers added France, Argentina and Yemen to the list, bringing the total to 34 as Singapore was removed from the list.
Then last month, Afghanistan was added to the list bringing the total to 32 countries.
On August 1, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced that passengers arriving from 31 “high risk” countries are barred from entering Kuwait. The announcement was made hours after the Kuwait International Airport reopened.
