Saudi Arabia ends the UAE travel ban

Great news for the Gulf—Saudi Arabia has lifted its travel restrictions on the UAE, South Africa and Argentina, meaning that people in Saudi can now travel to and from those three locations.

The announcement came from Saudi’s Interior Ministry on Tuesday night as part of a broader loosening of coronavirus safety measures. Other recent moves include allowing vaccinated residents of the Kingdom to return to the country including those in red list countries.

Travel to the UAE was banned just over two months ago on July 4 after a surge in cases and concern over the spread of the Delta variant.

The lifting of restrictions coincides with the upcoming Expo 2020 start in Dubai, and the six-month event set to run from October to March will likely attract millions from across the world, including many from Saudi Arabia.

|An official source in the Ministry of Interior stated that it was decided to remove the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Argentina from the entry banned country list as of 11 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday through the country’s land, sea and air ports,” said a statement from the Saudi Press Agency.

“Citizens will be allowed to travel to the three referred countries, the source said, stressing the importance of adhering to all the precautionary and preventive measures adopted. He explained that all procedures and measures are subject to continuous evaluation by the competent health authorities in the Kingdom, according to the developments in the epidemiological situation in the world,” the statement continued. 

“It is worth mentioning that the Kingdom had suspended travelling to and from a number of countries in the world, based on continuous monitoring of the epidemiological situation locally and globally, and any epidemic threats in any of the countries,” concluded the statement.

Coronavirus cases have been falling in the Kingdom as of late.