Saudi Arabia on Wednesday suspended all flights travel to and from India in the wake of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.

In a circular issued, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said it was “suspending travel to and from the following countries (India, Brazil and Argentina) including any person who has been in any of the mentioned countries above in the last 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom”.

India and Brazil are among the worst affected countries due to coronavirus pandemic. India stood at second place, followed by Brazil in the case of coronavirus cases.

However, passengers who have official Government invitations have been excluded from this suspension. The GACA circular — titled “Suspension of travel to countries where the Covid-19 virus has outbreak” was marked to all the airlines and chartered flight companies operating at the Saudi Arabia’s airports. In March this year, Saudi Arabia had suspended all flights from and to India due to spread in coronavirus cases.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE host a significant Indian migrant population. Five days back, Air India Express had said the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) suspended its flights for 24 hours for bringing two passengers with Covid-positive certificates on August 28 and September 4.

Hong Kong also banned Air India flights from Sunday till October 3 after a few passengers on its flight on Friday tested positive for Covid-19 post arrival

According to rules of the UAE Government, every passenger travelling from India is required to bring an original Covid-negative certificate.