Pakistan bans air travel for unvaccinated passengers

• CAA says only fully vaccinated passengers aged 18 and above will be allowed to undertake air travel to, from, and within Pakistan from October 1.
• Passengers between 15 and 18 years will be allowed to travel to Pakistan without a vaccination certificate up to October 31 and from Pakistan without a certificate up to November 1.
• Passengers above 6 years arriving in Pakistan should possess a negative PCR test result conducted within the last 72 hours.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday announced only fully vaccinated inbound and outbound passengers would now be allowed to travel via air, in line with National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) restrictions.

The CAA, in a notification, said from October 1, only fully vaccinated passengers aged 18 years and above will be allowed to undertake air travel to, from, and within Pakistan while holding proof of complete vaccination against COVID-19.

Inbound travel

With effect from October 1, only fully vaccinated passengers of 18 years and above will be allowed to undertake international air travel to Pakistan while holding proof of complete vaccination against COVID-19.

Passengers below 18 years may be allowed to travel to Pakistan without a vaccination certificate.

Pakistani passengers between 15 and 18 years will be allowed to travel inbound to Pakistan without a vaccination certificate up to October 31.

Partial vaccination criteria will apply for passengers between 15 to 18 years of age from November 1 and full vaccination criteria for inbound travel to Pakistan for passengers between 15 to 18 years will become applicable from December 1.

Pakistani students less than 18 years and studying abroad will be allowed to travel to Pakistan without a vaccination certificate. However, they will be required to be vaccinated while travelling outbound from Pakistan.

Foreigners/foreign passport holders less than 18 years will be allowed to travel inbound to Pakistan without a vaccination certificate.

Passengers medically advised against vaccination and holding a certificate from a classified specialist, doctor will be allowed to travel inbound to Pakistan without vaccination, or partial vaccination requirement.

Passengers that have travelled outbound from Pakistan before October 1, will be allowed to travel inbound to Pakistan regardless of their vaccination status. 

This exemption from vaccination requirement will also be applicable on connecting domestic flights of such passengers within 72 hours of arrival into Pakistan.

Rapid antigen testing upon arrival 

All passengers of aged 6 years and above will be required to undertake rapid antigen testing upon arrival in Pakistan.

Diplomatic passport holders will be exempted from RAT upon arrival in Pakistan. However, diplomats will self-quarantine at their respective residences for 10 days.

Diplomats opting to undertake RAT upon arrival and testing negative thereafter will be exempted from home quarantine requirement.

Diplomats not in possession of valid vaccination certificates/proof of vaccination will undergo RAT at their facilities.

All passengers tested negative through RAT on arrival will be allowed to proceed without quarantine requirements.

All passengers tested positive through RAT will be quarantined for a period of 10 days at a government or self paid facility, as per the choice of passenger.

PCR Tests of all RAT positive quarantined passengers will be undertaken on day 8 of quarantine whereby negative testing passengers will be allowed to proceed home and repeated positive tested passengers shall either undergo an additional quarantine period or be shifted to a hospital as per the advice of relevant health authorities.

Outbound travel

With effect from October 1, only fully vaccinated passengers of age 18 years and above will be allowed to travel outbound from Pakistan.

Pakistani passengers between 15 to 18 years will be allowed to travel outbound from Pakistan till November 1, 2021.

For Pakistani passengers between 15 to 18 years, partial vaccination requirement will become effective from November 1, and full vaccination requirement will become effective from December 1.

Foreigners/foreign passport holders will be allowed to travel outbound from Pakistan without a vaccination certificate.

Passengers who have travelled inbound to Pakistan before October 01, will be allowed to travel outbound from Pakistan without vaccination certificate.

Passengers medically advised against COVID-19 vaccination and holding a certificate from a classified specialist doctor will also be allowed to travel outbound from Pakistan without a vaccination certificate.

Domestic travel

Only fully vaccinated passengers of age 18 years and above will be allowed to undertake domestic air travel within Pakistan from October 1.

Pakistani passengers between 15 to 18 years of age will be allowed to undertake domestic air travel within Pakistan up to November 1.

For Pakistani passengers between 15 to 18 years, partial vaccination requirements will become applicable from November 1, and full vaccination requirement will become applicable from December 1.

Pakistani passengers below 15 years will be allowed to undertake domestic air travel within Pakistan without vaccination requirement until further directive in this regard.

All foreigners/ foreign passport holders less than 18 years of age will be allowed to undertake domestic air travel within Pakistan without vaccination requirement.

Passengers medically advised against COVID-19 vaccination with a certificate from a classified specialist doctor will also be allowed to travel on domestic flights within Pakistan without vaccination requirement/certificate.

Foreigners/foreign passport holders who have travelled to Pakistan before October 1, will be allowed to undertake domestic air travel within Pakistan without vaccination requirement/certificate.