COLOMBO, 21 May 2021: All international airports in Sri Lanka are closed to disembarking passengers effective midnight 21 May until midnight 31 May 2021 (local time) in an effort to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ruling stops all international flights to the country carrying passengers. However, repatriation flights can land empty and pick up passengers for the return trip.
The country’s Airport & Aviation Services tweeted details on Wednesday. There are exceptions for aircraft departures already scheduled from BIA and MRIA airports, aircraft emergencies, technical landings, inbound ferry flights (without passengers), freighter and humanitarian flights.
Sri Lanka reported 3,623 new cases on 19 May and 36 deaths. The cumulative total since March last year stands at 151,343 infections and 1,015 deaths.
Up until the latest ruling that stops passengers from disembarking at the country’s international airports, Sri Lanka welcomed foreign travellers who were willing to stay put in a resort for 14 days and undergo three PCR tests before being allowed to tour the country freely. They had to obtain a visa to show proof of health insurance and obtain a negative Covid-19 test result taken no longer than 92 hours before boarding flights to Sri Lanka.
That deal is now on hold until passengers are allowed to disembark at the country’s airports once more starting 1 June. However, the country will still ban visitors from the UK and India or other nationalities that have visited the two countries during the last 14 days.
