Cairo: About 10,000 plane tickets will be cancelled after Kuwait suspended flights from dozens of countries for fear of the new coronavirus, The Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas, which mentioned a source, reported.
On Saturday, Kuwait’s Directorate-General for Civil Aviation announced a ban on access from 31 “high-risk” countries following instructions from Kuwait’s fitness authorities.The suspension took effect Saturday until further notice.
These countries come with India, Pakistan, Egypt and the Philippines, which have giant expat communities in Kuwait.
“Thousands of expatriate citizens in Kuwait will cancel their reservations for fear of not returning to Kuwait,” the source said.Most cancellations will come from Egyptian expats, depending on the source.
“The government’s fitness resolution has caused an economic disaster and massive losses for some airlines and agencies,” the source said, calling the flight suspension a “hasty resolution.”
“How can the fitness government allow citizens to go to prohibited countries and, on the other hand, prevent their citizens from entering Kuwait?”said the source.
The resolution to suspend flights from all 31 countries announced hours after Kuwait International Airport reopened for advertising flights after a four-month hiatus at 30% of its overall capacity.
Other countries through The Kuwait Ban include Iran, China, Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Peru, Moldova, Singapore, Hong Kong, Panama, Chile and the Dominican Republic.
Foreigners account for approximately 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million inhabitants.
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