Thursday 14 / November / 2024
Muscat: Major airlines in the Middle East have started accepting passengers bound for the United States, after a court directive lifted a travel ban imposed by US President Donald Trump’s executive order.
A Seattle-based federal judge, James Robart, on Friday issued a nationwide order blocking Trump’s ban on nationals from Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Yemen.
Trump has slammed the decision as “ridiculous” and vowed it will be overturned, labelling Robart a “so-called judge.”
A notice uploaded on Emirates’ website read that as directed by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), nationals of the seven affected countries seeking admission after presenting a valid, unexpired US visa or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) card (Green Card) will be permitted to travel to the country.
“Entry requirements to the US may change, and travellers are advised to check the latest information prior to travel. Emirates will continue to comply with the guidance provided by the US Customs and Border Protection,” the notice added.
On January 28, major airlines restricted nationals from the seven countries from travelling to the US, unless they were in possession of a green card, were government officials, or were employees of international organisations and NATO.
Eithad had also announced the new developments on travel to the US via its website.
“Following the advice received from the US Customs and Border Protection unit at Abu Dhabi Airport, the airline will start accepting nationals from the seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Libya — which were listed in the US immigration entry requirements last week,” the notice read.
“Acceptance will naturally be subject to checks completed by the US authorities, as existed prior to the issuance of the executive order on January 27,” the notice added.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways also uploaded a notice stating that passengers to the US from seven countries will be permitted to travel if they fulfil the criteria set by the US government.
“As directed by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), nationals of the seven affected countries, and all refugees seeking admission after presenting a valid, unexpired US visa or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) card (Green Card), will be permitted to travel to the United States and will be processed accordingly upon arrival,” the airlines stated.
An official at Oman Air revealed that the airline had no flights to the US and it only checks to see if passengers have valid papers.
“As we do not fly to the US, we do not have to worry,” the official remarked.
Trump’s January 27 executive order placed a 90-day ban on nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US, and blocked for at least 120 days the arrival of refugees. Syrian refugees were banned indefinitely.
The State Department said up to 60,000 people from the seven countries had their visas cancelled. A Justice Department attorney put that figure at closer to 100,000.
