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. 

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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