Saudi Arabia starts operating airports at 100% capacity

Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said it has started operating airports at full capacity from Sunday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

A new circular from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) states that all airlines operating in the Kingdom’s airports, including private aviation, would use the entire capacity of its airports to operate both domestic and international flights.

It indicated that travellers’ vaccination status will continue to be checked via the official COVID-19 contact tracing app, Tawakkalna.

This comes as the kingdom eased several COVID-19 restrictions on October 16, 2021, in response to a sharp drop in daily infections and a significant development in vaccinations.

After one and half years, the government on Sunday lifted social distancing measures and allowed full capacity attendance at the two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah for those who have taken the full dose of COVID-19 vaccines.

Maintaining social distancing and wearing masks will continue to be applied in locations where health status checks are not applied through the Tawakkalna app.

On October 16, 2021, Saudi Arabia announced that fully vaccinated sports viewers will be allowed to attend events at all stadiums and other sports facilities from Sunday, reported SPA.