Qatar bars Indians from entering the country; IndiGo, Air India Express, Air India cancels all Doha flights

Qatar has announced that the State of Qatar has barred the entry of people from 13 countries from March 9, 2020, onwards till further notice as a preventive measure due to the spread of the Coronavirus. The list includes the following countries:

  • Bangladesh
  • China
  • Egypt
  • India
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Lebanon
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • South Korea
  • Sri Lanka
  • Syria
  • Thailand

Unfortunately, this announcement tends to ignore some of the countries where the CoronaVirus has already spread out and adds India to the list.

As a consequence of this move, Qatar Airways ban countries on this list also to use their network to arrive into Doha. Qatar Airways will accept for travel from India, only those with onward connections through Hamad International Airport. Passengers who are scheduled to travel into Doha airport will be denied a seat on the plane. 

qatar airways ban countries

IndiGo A320

IndiGo, on March 9, 2020, cancelled flights to Doha between March 9 and March 17, 2020,  following travel ban imposed by Qatar on Indian nationals due to the Coronavirus situation. IndiGo operates flights from the following cities to Doha:

  • Mumbai (6E1709/1719)
  • Delhi (6E1701)
  • Kannur (6E1715)
  • Hyderabad (6E1713)
  • Kochi (6E1703)
  • Kozhikode (6E1711)
  • Chennai (6E1707)

As per IndiGo, most of their traffic is O&D traffic and not transfer traffic via Doha.

Air India and Air India Express have also cancelled their flights to Doha for the moment:

  • Cochin/Air India Express (IX475)
  • Thiruvananthapuram/Air India Express (IX373)
  • Kannur/Air India Express (IX773)
  • Mumbai/Air India (AI969)
  • Delhi/Air India (AI971)

I don’t expect this cancellation to be for just a week, so if you intend to fly to through Doha, please make sure you already look at other options.


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About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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Comments

  1. I wonder about the effect this will have on the labor force there. If it’s like Dubai or Abu Dhabi the vast majority of laborers are from those countries listed. Maybe not in the short term but what about the longer term? Then again I would think they are not medically ready to deal with a potential national health crisis.

  2. Italy, and rest of Europe.
    Singapore.
    I hope they have a good explanation / rationale on choosing or not choosing some countries

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