Saudi Arabia on Wednesday banned all flights from and to India for14 days and South Korea imposed restrictions on certain categories of Indian visa-holders travelling on chartered flights due to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases here.
The decision will impact nearly 30 flights operated by the Air India Group - 28 of Air India Express and two of Air India- under the Vande Bharat Mission to Saudi Arabia over the next two weeks. Private airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet will also be cancelling their chartered flights to the middle-eastern country.
The Indian Embassy in Seoul also issued a circular on the latest guidelines of the Republic of Korea. It has imposed entry restrictions on certain categories of Indian visa-holders travelling on chartered flights. There are no restrictions for those entering the country on scheduled flights. There are no Vande Bharat flights scheduled to Seoul.
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Neither Saudi Arabia nor South Korea are among the countries with which India has a special agreement for limited number of scheduled flights.
Last week, Dubai suspended Air India Express flights after the airline failed to screen two passengers carrying COVID-19 positive certificates. However, the decision was reversed within 24 hours.
Hong Kong, which was the first country to ban Air India flights last month due to COVID-19 positive passengers travelling onboard, recently extended its suspension until October 3.
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