EgyptAir jet - Official website
CAIRO - 28 February 2020: EgyptAir cancelled all bookings of Umrah visa holders until further notice upon the latest decision taken by the Saudi authorities of imposing a temporary ban on entering the Kingdom for performing Umrah [small pilgrimage] in the holy city of Mecca or visiting Prophet's Mosque in Medina, in an effort to prevent the spread of new coronavirus.
In a statement, the Egyptian state-owned company added that the cancellation decision has been enacted on Thursday, February 27, 2020. The company affirmed that holders of the cancelled visas will not be fined.
Egyptian authorities on Thursday ordered to oblige travel agencies and airlines organizing Umrah pilgrimage or visits to the Prophet's Mosque in the western city of Medina to promptly refund fees of bookings to their customers.
The Saudi decision also banned tourism visas from countries where the virus spread. It temporarily bars Saudi citizens and citizens of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from moving to or from the kingdom using their national IDs. However, exceptions include Saudi citizens outside the kingdom who are willing to return in case they left the country by their national IDs and the GCC citizens inside the Kingdom, in case they need to leave Saudi Arabia.
The new precautions are “based on the recommendations of the competent health authorities to apply the highest precautionary standards and take proactive preventive measures to prevent the emergence of the coronavirus in the Kingdom and its spread,” the statement added.
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