Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has decided to ban the entry of all international passengers without a copy of test result for COVID-19 from March 21, 2020.

According to the instructions issued by the PCAA, all international arriving passengers to Pakistani airports would be required to provide a copy of test result for COVID-19 through RT-PCR conducted during 24 hours prior to the boarding the flight.

The test result must include the name and passport number of the passenger and the original test result shall also be required at the disembarkation airport in Pakistan, it said.

The instructions stated that it shall be the responsibility of the airline operators to ensure that no passengers were allowed to board an aircraft without the said test result and this requirement shall be in addition to the current requirement of the submission of completed health declaration form at the point of disembarkation in Pakistan.

All airline operators are also directed to ensure disinfection of aircraft between each disembarkation and embarkation of passengers onboard an aircraft as per internationally recognized procedures. PCAA also announced to reopened all airports expect Gwadar and Turbat from March 21, 2020, saying that international flight operations would be reverted to all international airports except Gwadar and Turbat from March 21, 2020 after equipping all necessary infrastructure and resources to ensure proper screening of international passengers and asked the airlines to revert to their originally assigned slots at the respective airports.