RIYADH: Saudi Arabia temporarily suspended travel of citizens and residents and halted flights with several states including Pakistan after corona-virus was labelled a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization, state news agency Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Thursday citing an official source at Interior Ministry.
This is an additional directive issued after initial suspension by Kingdom that extended to just the entry of Umrah Pilgrims over Coron-avirus fears.
The Saudi measure has thrown the business of many Umrah and Hajj Organizers into disarray with questions looming of Hajj 2020. But this is not limited to agents. Hotels in Makkah and Madinah, Transport companies, Airlines, all the tourism companies organizing in the making of Umrah and Haj packages will suffer heavy losses. Many travel agencies in Muslim countries (specifically in Pakistan) deal exclusively with pilgrims (with some companies just operating during Hajj Season) and are likely to take a major hit. After Saudi Arabia closed off travel to the holy cities for Umrah, many potential travelers are concerned that Hajj could be affected too [Read: How will Hajj 2020 be impacted by Corona Virus].
COUNTRIES IN SAUDI ARABIA’S TEMPORARILY TRAVEL SUSPENSION LIST
Saudi Arabia also suspended passenger traffic through all land crossings with Jordan , while commercial and cargo traffic is still allowed, and the passage of exceptional humanitarian cases. The decision excludes health workers in the Kingdom from Philippines and India, and evacuation, shipping and trade trips taking necessary precautions.
Saudi Arabia has so far 45 confirmed coronavirus cases. “Further to the decision of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to temporarily suspend travel of citizens and expatriates to a number of countries where the threat of the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID19) appeared, the SPA stated.
There are rumors in the market that the Saudi Government may reduce Hajj Quota of different countries in an effort to manage the spread of virus. If this is the case then the over all Hajj Quota from Pakistan may be reduced and hence Quota of Private Hajj Organizers will also get reduced. This means that the availability of Private Hajj Packages for 2020 in Pakistan will go down. For more details on possible impact of Corona Virus on Hajj 2020.
Originally published March 12th, 2020 1:37 pm, updated March 24, 2020
Topic: Umrah
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