The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has directed airlines that passengers travelling from India will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka with immediate effect.

The directive was issued on Wednesday (5) to all airlines after considering the instructions received from the health authorities due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in India as well as Sri Lanka.

Additionally, all online and offline airlines have been directed that passengers with a travel history to India in the past 14 days to be not permitted to enter Sri Lanka as well.

The CAA also said that these restrictions would be reviewed as early as possible based on instructions from local health authorities.

India reported a record 412,262 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours and a record 3,980 deaths. COVID-19 infections have now surged past 21 million, with a total death toll of 230,168, Health Ministry data show.

In April, there had been 796 Indian tourists to Sri Lanka (19% of total arrivals) and 1,075 in the first four months of 2021. More Indians may have arrived in May since the launch of the Indo-Lanka bio travel bubble.

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