Sri Lanka to reopen for tourist arrivals from today

The pilot operation to open the country to tourists, after lengthy restrictions owing to the coronavirus, commences today.

However the proposed visit of 200 Russian nationals to the country scheduled for today has been delayed following the emergence of a new variant of the novel coronavirus.

Over 200 people were due to arrive in Sri Lanka today, onboard Russian airline Aeroflot, marking the official reopening of the country for tourists during the COVID-19 era.

However, the group of tourists from Moscow, Russia will arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport only later this month.

The BIA said the Sri Lankan tour of Russians has been postponed by several days due to recent developments in Europe and other parts of the world.

However, the Vice President of the Airport and Aviation Sri Lanka Ltd. Rajeev Sooriyarachchi said two flights are due to arrive in the island from Ukraine on the 28th and 29th of December.

He noted that airports were never closed down entirely during the pandemic claiming that the airports will continue to function especially for departures including repatriation flights.

(Source: News Radio)