Saudi Arabia to lift most curbs today

India allots 68 per cent of flights to GCC in new schedule

Saudi Arabia will end most coronavirus-related restrictions today, including resuming indoor dining, reopening cinemas and resuming entertainment activities and events, the state news agency SPA said yesterday.

Some activities will remain banned, including weddings and corporate meetings. Social gatherings will continue to be limited to a maximum of 20 people, SPA said, citing an interior ministry source.

The authorities said that inspections would be increased in order to ensure that individuals and facilities adhere to the precautionary measures, and added that violators would be fined.

Meanwhile, the biggest slice of the ongoing phase of repatriation flights for Indians affected by Coronavirus disruptions worldwide has been set apart for the GCC countries, Anurag Srivastava, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in New Delhi.

Over 1,350 flights to be operated until March 28

The latest phase of these repatriation flights, known as the “Vande Bharat Mission,” (VBM) began on March 1 and will last till March 28. Slightly more than 1,350 international flights are scheduled to be operated from 28 countries in this phase, enabling an estimated 260,000 Indians to travel home. Of these, nearly 920 flights accounting for 68 per cent of the total are from GCC countries, Srivastava said. Until yesterday, about 6.15 million Indians from all over the world have been repatriated, a large bulk of them owing to Coronavirus disruptions since the VBM flights began on May 7 last year.

Repatriation under the VBM is made up of Indian government owned carriers, Indian private airlines, foreign carriers, chartered flights, naval ships and land border crossings. Srivastava said India presently has bilateral air bubble arrangements with 27 countries including five GCC states.

Air bubbles are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular flights are suspended as a result of the pandemic.