Morocco Extends Flight Ban with Belgium Amid COVID-19 Variant Concerns

Morocco is determined to secure its borders in the face of new Covid-19 variants. It has just extended the suspension of its air flights with Belgium. On March 1, the Moroccan authorities had decided to suspend flights to and from Belgium from midnight on March 2 until March 21. The new suspension aims to limit the arrival of the British variant of the coronavirus on Moroccan soil. To date, the kingdom has detected 24 cases.

"April 10 corresponds to the theoretical end date of the state of health emergency in effect since March 2020. This provides for a nighttime curfew until mid-March," says Karl Lagatie, spokesperson for the Belgian embassy in Rabat, thus confirming the extension of the suspension of flights between the two countries. Before the appearance of Covid-19, the number of flights between Belgium and Morocco exceeded 50 per week.

The countries with which Morocco has suspended flights in order to fight the new variants of the coronavirus are 26 in number. These countries are: Turkey, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Sweden, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Denmark, South Africa, Belgium, Italy, Algeria, Egypt, Poland, Norway, Finland, Greece, Lebanon and Kuwait. This list is evaluated every 15 days.