ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Sulaimani International Airport will require all passengers to produce a coronavirus test before they are permitted to board their flight, despite government regulations that say the test is not mandatory for people leaving the Kurdistan Region. The airports reopen to commercial flights on Saturday. “We inform tourists that they have to conduct a PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test 48 hours before their flight,” read a statement from the airport on Friday. Those who do not get tested will not be allowed to travel. The tests can be done at the coronavirus-dedicated hospital, Martyr Tahir Ali Wali Bag, in Sulaimani’s Sarchnar area, according to the statement. Mohammed Qadir, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) health ministry, told Rudaw English that the test is not mandatory for outbound passengers, unless the airliner requests it. “However, those who come to the Region should conduct the test and they should promise to quarantine themselves for 14 days,” said Qadir. Drivers bringing passengers to the airports must also be tested, at a cost of $40, while tests for people boarding flights cost $80, according to a government official speaking on condition of anonymity. After months of a coronavirus-related ban, Iraq reopened its airspace for commercial flights on July 23. The KRG, however, delayed reopening Erbil and Sulaimani airports in order to put into place special procedures to handle the COVID-19 risk. “Our airports are currently not ready for international flights. Therefore, we have asked both Erbil and Sulaimani airports to get ready by August 1,” Interior Minister Reber Ahmed said at a press conference in Erbil on July 21, adding that health measures must be taken. “The travelers who come will be tested then sent home. If they test positive but don't have symptoms they will be quarantined at home if not they will be sent to special hospitals,” he said. Rudaw English has learnt that Sulaimani International Airport has three flights scheduled to depart late Saturday: two to Turkey and one to Qatar. The Kurdistan Region recorded 243 new cases of coronavirus as well as 109 recoveries and 13 deaths on Friday. This brings the total number of cases to 13,857. Of this, 9,083 people have recovered and 541 died.
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