Riyadh/New Delhi: Saudi Arabia on Thursday announced the opening up of direct flights from India and five other countries to the kingdom from December 1, in a major move to ease travel.
The Indian embassy in Riyadh on Friday thanked the Saudi authorities for the gesture and said it will facilitate travel between both nations and strengthen the strategic partnership.
In a tweet, it said: “Saudi government announces opening up of direct flights from India to the Kingdom from Dec 01. We thank all relevant Saudi authorities for this gesture which will facilitate travel between both nations & strengthen our strategic partnership.”
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia announced that it will allow direct entry from six countries including Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Egypt without spending 14-days quarantine in a third country.
The new directive will come into force from Wednesday, December 1, 2021, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting an official source at the Ministry of Interior.
Brazil and Vietnam are the other countries included in the new list of countries allowed direct entry into the Kingdom.
All those who come from these countries are required to spend five days in institutional quarantine, regardless of their immunization status outside the Kingdom, the source said.
The announcement of allowing direct entry to travellers from the above-mentioned countries was “issued based on the continuous follow-up of the epidemiological situation locally and globally and the reports submitted by the Saudi competent health authorities about the developments of the coronavirus pandemic and the extent of the stability of the epidemiological situation in a number of countries”, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the source as saying.
