Max 500 Tourists daily on airport reopening

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation at a meeting held on Monday (Dec. 14) regarding the re-opening of the airport, reached a decision to allow only 500 tourists to arrive in Sri Lanka daily, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation said.  Accordingly, all arriving tourists will be subjected to PCR tests and referred for quarantine at the respective hotels. There are 58 hotels registered for this purpose and the operations at these hotels are conducted under the COVID-19 containment regulations, the ministry said. In the event the tourists request to take accommodation at other hotels apart from the registered list, the approval of the medical sector should be sought, a high-ranking officer at the Ministry said. The officer noted all tourists will have to undergo at least seven-days in quarantine. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, a group of Russian nationals is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka as the first batch of tourists, following the re-opening of the airport. The airport will re-open on 26th December, under a pilot project and all operations will be conducted under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Health, noted the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Meanwhile, SriLankan Airlines will also resume flight operations, as usual, starting 26th December. SriLankan Airlines has decided to increase the number of flights to Malaysia and Singapore from 18th December. Weekly flights will operate from Colombo to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, every Friday; while the number of flights from Colombo to Singapore has been increased to thrice per week, SriLankan Airlines announced. The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation on Saturday (12th December) announced that the airport will re-open for tourist arrivals from the 26th of December.