Coronavirus scare: Kuwait stops flights to India for a week

MANGALURU: Indians working in Kuwait are in a fix as the Kuwaiti government decided to stop flights to seven countries, including India, for a week from Friday. This move will cause inconvenience to many NRIs, who were scheduled to return from Mangaluru to the Gulf country next week.
Three flights operate to Kuwait every week from Mangaluru International Airport and fly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Earlier, Kuwait made it mandatory for passengers to be screened for coronavirus, who were coming to Kuwait International Airport from seven countries, including India, but it was suspended on Thursday owing to technical issues. The big shocker came on on Friday, as Kuwait decided to stop flights to India and six other countries for a week.
Officials from the Air India Express Mangaluru office told STOI that on Monday about 60 to 80 passengers were scheduled to fly to Kuwait. “Their tickets have been cancelled by the carrier. The flight from MIA, which is operational via Bahrain to Kuwait, will be flying only till Bahrain International Airport and vice-versa,” said an official.
The circular no. 27 from the directorate general of civil aviation, state of Kuwait stated: “Pursuant to the decision issued by the health authorities in the state of Kuwait, all incoming flights to and from Kuwait International Airport are temporarily suspended for Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria, Georgia, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Lebanon, starting from March 6, for a week.”