Kuwait Airways Halts Iraq Flights

Kuwait Airways has suspended flights to Iraq due to "the status quo there," Kuwait Airways said on Twitter on Saturday. The Airways added that the decision was in line with the instructions issued by the Kuwait Civil Aviation Authority.

Several rockets landed on Iraq's Baghdad International Airport compound on Friday, damaging a Boeing 767 belonging to state-owned Iraqi Airlines.

In recent months, rockets and drones have hit the U.S. embassy in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone, U.S. diplomatic facilities at the airport, and U.S.-led coalition forces based at Iraqi bases.

Noteworthy, due to COVID-19 Omicron variant contagion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined a list of major countries that have lifted travel ban on southern African countries.

The United Arab Emirates stated yesterday that its travel ban on 12 southern African countries will be lifted completely as of January 29.

Many countries adopted this ban in November 2021 in an attempt to stop the spread of the then-new COVID-19 Omicron strain.

“From January 29, entry into the UAE for arrivals from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe is allowed again,” according to the UAE National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA).

The United States and, more recently, the European Union — one of the first blocks to enforce the travel ban over the Omicron form – are among the major blocks that have now withdrawn the travel restrictions for these African states.

Due to the widespread hysteria sparked by western governments and major international media outlets over the new Omicron variety, more than 30 countries have implemented a travel restriction on southern African countries.

The African Union (AU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have slammed the enforcement of these travel prohibitions, particularly in the Republic of South Africa, which was the first country to detect and raise the alarm about the new variety. However, it is not thought to be the variant’s origin.