Qatar Airways is “working closely” with the national civil aviation authority to implement the latest operational restrictions in India, which announced a ban on all international flights for a week from Sunday.

To check the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives globally and infected more than 200,000, India the world’s second most populous country after China, had already suspended visas for the vast majority of foreigners seeking to enter the country.

A Qatar Airways spokesman told Gulf Times on Thursday, “We are working closely with all national civil aviation authorities to implement the latest operational restrictions.

“As you can appreciate, many countries around the world are constantly updating their travel advice and entry restrictions, it’s a very dynamic situation. We have a flexible travel policy in place to assist all affected passengers. All passengers should ensure their contact details are up to date at manage booking on our website, so we can advise them if their flight is affected.”

New cases in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are all accelerating, with the total across the region nearing 700. Six people have died, a Reuters’ dispatch said.

Coronavirus cases in India climbed to 173 on Thursday after 18 new cases were reported, news channel NDTV reported.

Indian airlines such as SpiceJet and Vistara have already suspended international flights, reports said.

Neighbouring country Sri Lanka too imposed a ban on incoming international flights in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

The island nation banned all incoming flights for two weeks since Thursday and imposed a curfew in some areas. There have been 53 confirmed cases in Sri Lanka already.

Countries around the world are increasingly adopting sweeping measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, including shutting down airports, imposing travel restrictions and completely sealing their borders.

The World Health Organisation has already labelled coronavirus a pandemic and has named the disease COVID-19.


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