All arrivals to BIA suspended

The landing of all aircraft from overseas at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katuayake have been suspended for 2 weeks.

The President?s Media Division (PMD) said the landing of aircraft will be suspended from tomorrow.

The PMD further said all passenger arrivals to Sri Lanka will be suspended from midnight tomorrow (18) till 31 March.

All flights that are enroute will however be allowed to land, while cargo, departures and transit will continue, the PMD added.

The decision comes following a discussion this afternoon between President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and members of the National Operations Centre to prevent Covid-19 on the preventive measures to be taken in view of the coronavirus outbreak in Sri Lanka.

Earlier today, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority G. A. Chandrasiri said passengers from Qatar, Bahrain and Canada will not be permitted to land in Sri Lanka for a period of two weeks.

He said the ban will come into effect from midnight today.

Last week, the Civil Aviation Authority imposed a travel ban on passengers arriving from Iran, Italy, South Korea, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands and Austria. (Colombo Gazette)