AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan resumed regular international flights on Tuesday after being suspended for nearly six months because of the novel coronavirus epidemic, officials said.
They said Queen Alia international airport would initially handle six flights a day before expanding to ensure that airport authorities can enforce strict social distancing and other health rules.
The government had repeatedly postponed reopening Jordan’s main airport, a regional hub which normally handles around nine million passengers annually, over fears that travelers could bring about an increase in infections.
Passengers entering Jordan would need proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of travel, alongside a compulsory test on arrival, officials said.
The rules would include a minimum of one week of self-isolation to a maximum of two weeks of quarantine for foreign travelers depending on the severity of the pandemic in countries they came from.
The closure of the airport since mid-March has worsened the economic damage wrought by the pandemic on Jordan’s aid-dependent economy.
Tourism is a major source of foreign currency and had been enjoying an unprecedented boom before the pandemic.
Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; editing by Grant McCool
A health worker checks a passenger arriving at Queen Alia International Airport after regular international flights resume after a closure due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Amman, Jordan, September 8, 2020.
