Covid-negative test result must for passengers from Istanbul

*Qatar Airways guideline comes into effect from Tuesday

Qatar Airways has announced that from Tuesday, passengers arriving in Qatar from Istanbul, Turkey, must present a negative Covid-19 test result issued by an accredited medical centre, not more than 48 hours before arrival in Doha.

The Ministry of Public Health has accredited four Covid-19 testing centres in Turkey?: ?Ankara Sehir hospital, Basaksehir Cam ve Sakura Sehir hospital, Kartal Dr Litfi Kirdar hospital and Sakarya Üniversitesi E?itim Ve Ara?t?rma Hastanesi.

In a tweet on Monday, Qatar Airways said: "Effective 18 August, passengers arriving in Qatar from Istanbul, Turkey, must present a negative result of a Covid-19 medical test taken within 48 hours of arrival to Doha at an accredited medical centre."

Those who do not have a copy of their medical certificate at the point of check-in will not be permitted to travel on Qatar Airways flights, the airline stressed on its website.

Passengers travelling from other gateways in Turkey to Doha will be required to take a Covid-19 medical test on arrival at Hamad International Airport, it added.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has said it will operate flights between Doha and 13 cities in India from today until August 31.

The 13 destinations are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram.

"Book now your one-way or return flight tickets from Qatar to 13 destinations in India, for travel only between August 18 to August 31, 2020," the airline said on its website and also in a promotional e-mail.

India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation had recently announced the creation of a travel bubble (temporary air travel between two countries) with Qatar from August 18 to 31 for flights to and from either side, as agreed upon by the Civil Aviation Authority of Qatar.

Qatar Airways on Monday stressed that it continues to lead the recovery of international air travel. "We are currently operating over 500 weekly flights to more than 80 destinations worldwide," it tweeted.