Govt. suspends inbound passenger flights for 10 days

• To come into effect from midnight tomorrow till 31 May
• Exempts freighters and humanitarian flights from ban

The Government has imposed a ban on all inbound passenger flights for 10 days starting tomorrow, in a fresh move to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in its third wave.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) informed all operating airlines to suspend passenger arrivals from midnight tomorrow (21) until 11:59 p.m. on 31 May at all international airports in the country.

However, the CAA Director General Capt. Themiya Abyewickrama said that freighter operations and humanitarian flights, technical landings, inbound ferry flights (without passengers) and passengers transiting for less than 12 hours with confirmed tickets destined to an onward destination, will be allowed. Departures with passengers and emergency diversions are also allowed.

The temporary suspension comes as the country has experienced over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases daily since 9 May. The number of cumulative cases amounted to 147,720 of which 47,773 were post-Avurudu. 

Sri Lanka’s imported COVID cases include 4,077 returning Sri Lankans and 315 foreigners. Fatalities from COVID-19 crossed the 1,000 mark on Tuesday to 1,015.

After a near 10-month closure, Sri Lanka on 21 January re-opened borders to resume inbound international travel to the country. Since then, over 13,000 tourists have arrived while complying with health and safety guidelines.

Prior to the COVID outbreak, around 35 airlines operated direct flights to Sri Lanka. However post-COVID, only Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Turkish Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Singapore Airlines, China Eastern, Ukraine Airlines, Air Astana, Oman Air, Gulf Air and Fly Dubai have resumed flights to Sri Lanka.