RAWALPINDI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Sunday revised and extended the entry restrictions, temporary ban and the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all inbound travelers, chartered and private aircraft flights till April 20.

A notification issued by the CAA containing a list of countries was shared by the regulator with 20 countries placed in category A. It also increased the number of countries in category C from 12 to 22 due to the spread of the new variant of Covid-19.

The CAA said the revised country list will be effective at 1am on April 6 till April 20.

According to the previous notification effective from March 23 to April 5, there was a complete ban on inbound travel for category C countries.

The CAA said the temporary measure was being introduced in continuation to the measures being taken to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The counties included in category C were South Africa, Botswana, Chana, Kenya, Comoros, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Seychelles, Somalia, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

From the 20 countries in category A, international travelers do not require Covid-19 test before entry into Pakistan.

These countries are Australia, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago and Vietnam.

International travelers from countries not specified in category A required Covid-19 PCR test (max 72 hours old) before commencement of travel to Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2021