All flights to and from France have been suspended due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the spokesman of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) has announced.
Flights to and from 39 countries with special conditions are also canceled until further notice, Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh said on Wednesday.
However, Iran’s flag carrier IranAir is set to resume flights to and from the United Kingdom after months of suspension imposed to curb the spread of a novel coronavirus variant into the Islamic Republic, the official added.
Back in February, Iran suspended flights to and from 32 countries including Angola, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guinea, Lesotho, Guyana, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritania, Rwanda, Sicily, Suriname, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Zambia.
Earlier, Iran announced it would reduce the validity of negative COVID-19 PCR test results from 96 hours to 72 hours for inbound and outbound passengers.
The new regulation replaced a role that required to bar passengers from boarding if they do not have a negative COVID test within 96 hours of departure.
All passengers are subject to the medical screening on arrival, and if they are suspected of having the disease, non-Iranian nationalities will be quarantined at a place specified by the Health Ministry at their own expense and Iranian citizens will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
The worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill, and tourism has been the worst affected of all major economic sectors.
World tourist arrivals fell by 72% over the first ten months of 2020, according to data compiled by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in December.
Restrictions on travel, low consumer confidence, and a global struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic are amongst factors contributing to the worst year on record in the history of tourism. Iran has also suffered the same fate as its foreign arrivals plunged 72% during the first eight months of 2020 when compared to 2019.
Persian
