Originally posted to The Middle East Monitor website, 4 August 2020,
Egyptian authorities announced that Kuwait will review the decision to ban flights to Cairo, which sparked widespread controversy in the country.
This came in a phone call between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Kuwaiti counterpart Ahmad Nasser Al Sabah, according to a statement issued by Cairo.
The statement quoted “the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister’s confirmation that the decision of stopping flights to Egypt will be reconsidered during the coming period.”
The two sides discussed “arrangements for the conditions of the Egyptian and Kuwaiti communities, in the context of ensuring contact between the two countries within the distinguished relations existing between them and caring for the citizens of both countries residing in each of them.”
They also agreed to “the continuous communication of the health ministers of the two countries to determine the procedures to return matters to normal in order to facilitate movement.”
On Saturday, anger escalated in Egypt as Kuwait listed Cairo among 31 countries it prevented its citizens from entering. There were calls for Egypt to put in similar measures against Kuwait in response.
The General Administration of Civil Aviation in Kuwait issued a decision to ban commercial flights to 31 countries as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
The countries are: India, Iran, China, Brazil, Colombia, Armenia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Syria, Spain, Singapore, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iraq, Mexico, Indonesia, Chile, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Italy, Northern Macedonia, Moldova, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Montenegro, Dominican Republic and Kosovo.
EgyptAir responded to the decision by suspending all flights scheduled to Kuwait from Saturday until further notice.
Link to the original post: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200804-kuwait-will-review-flight-ban-to-cairo-says-egypt/
