CAA exempts few countries from Covid-19 test

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday issued a list specifying the countries from where the international travellers would not require Covid-19 tests before their entry into Pakistan.

According to a notification issued by the aviation authority, the list has been divided into three categories – A, B and C.

The new directives have been announced for all scheduled and chartered airline operators, ground handling agents, private operators and authorised flight permission agents.

Passengers from countries in Category A will not be asked to get tested for the coronavirus, the notification said.

Twenty-three countries have been mentioned in the category A including Australia, Cote d’ Ivoire, China, Cuba, Fiji, Finland, Ghana, Iceland, Iraq, Madagascar, Maldives, Myanmar, New Zealand, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Togo, Vietnam and Zambia.

Meanwhile, any country that is not included in category A automatically falls into category B and the travellers from there will have to present a negative Covid-19 test, carried out within the last 96 hours.

Although there is no country in category C, the aviation authority maintained that in case a nation is included, passengers from there will have to get a negative test before boarding a flight as well as after landing in Pakistan.