Saudi gets ready to repatriate citizens amidst Covid-19
Riyadh: Saudi has announced that it is working in cooperation with all relevant government agencies to arrange for the safe return of Saudi citizens currently abroad, Arab News reported.
General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) chairman and minister of transport Saleh Al-Jasser said that in compliance with the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the transport system, represented by GACA, was working to ready airport terminals as part of a series of decisions issued by the king to ensure the safety of citizens in light of the coronavirus outbreak, in the Kingdom and abroad.
“GACA has harnessed all its efforts and capabilities to receive the citizens wishing to return to the Kingdom," Al-Jasser said.
"It has prepared terminals in the Kingdom’s international airports: King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
“GACA also endeavours to schedule the flights designated for the plan to return Saudi citizens to the Kingdom in coordination with the national carrier, Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), in addition to continuous coordination with the airports of other countries.”
He added that the authority would take all precautionary and preventive measures against COVID-19 in cooperation with the Ministry of Health.
Saudi minister of tourism, Ahmed Al-Khatib, also announced that 11,000 rooms in various accommodations across the Kingdom are ready to welcome the returning citizens, with more rooms to be facilitated.
The Ministry of Education, meanwhile, has followed up with its 31 cultural bureaus on the health and safety of Saudi scholarship students abroad.
At present, 124,228 Saudis are abroad as part of the the scholarship program, with 79,113 scholarship students as well as 45,115 accompanying family members.
The ministry will in addition provide them with the means of return to the Kingdom if they wish to do so.
Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/789063
