Saudi Arabia bans flights from India amid surging coronavirus cases

Saudi Arabia bans flights from India amid surging coronavirus cases

Saudi Arabia has banned flights from India in light of the surging coronavirus cases in the South Asian country.

Although a circular issued by Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said it was "suspending travel to and from the following countries - India, Brazil and Argentina", airline industry sources in India said repatriation flights from the kingdom are still allowed to operate.

India's national carrier Air India and its sister airline Air India Express, besides private carrier IndiGo were operating repatriation flights – also called Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights – from Saudi Arabia.

“Our flights are carrying passengers from Saudi Arabia,” a senior Air India Express official told Arabian Business.

"We are, however, not allowed to carry passengers from India to Saudi Arabia," the airline official said.

The official said Air India