January 29th local time, Saudi National News Agency quoted a source from the Saudi Ministry of the Interior to report that Saudi Arabia will extend the ban on outbound travel for its nationals until May 17, and the opening hours of international flights and border crossings will be postponed accordingly.
After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Saudi government suspended all international flights from March 2020.
Since then, the civil aviation department has resumed some international flights in batches since July, but except in special circumstances, Saudi nationals are still prohibited from leaving the country, and only foreigners are allowed to enter or leave Saudi Arabia.
On the 8th of this month, the Saudi government announced that it would fully resume international flights from January 31.
The pandemic situation in Saudi Arabia has maintained a steady trend recently, with the number of new cases per day remaining at about 200.
At the same time, the number of existing cases in the country has continued to decrease, but the overall pandemic situation in the Gulf region is still very severe, and the number of new cases per day in some surrounding countries has even reached new highs repeatedly.
