In wake of rising Omicron cases, the Government of West Bengal has decided to temporarily suspend all direct flights from the United Kingdom to Kolkata from 3rd of January. The State Home Secretary has sent a letter to the Centre regarding the restriction. All passengers coming from other non-at-risk countries by international flights to West Bengal will have to mandatorily undergo a test on arrival at their cost.
Passengers have to mandatorily pre-book test before boarding to reduce wasting time on arrival, which the airlines must ensure prior to allowing the boarding. The airlines will randomly select 10 per cent of the passengers for the RT-PCR test and the balance 90 per cent shall undergo Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) at the arrival airport. Those found positive in the RAT test will have to further undergo RT-PCR tests as may be required by the health authorities.