Gambia Ends Quarantine for Inbounding Flight Passengers

The Ministry of Tourism of The Gambia has announced an amendment ending one of the COVID-19 preventive guidelines that, until now, subjected inbounding flight passengers to quarantine after landing at the Banjul International Airport.

The change has been officially notified to the Director General of the Gambia Tourism Board in a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Tourism Ministry, Kordu L. Jabang-Senghore on Friday.

“I am to inform you of the decision of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on COVID-19 to amend the above-named guidelines as follows: Arriving passengers will no longer be subjected to quarantine; and arriving passengers in possession of negative COVID Test Certificate of not more than 72 hours will not be tested in The Gambia,” the communication indicated.

The lifting came just a day after The Chronicle published an announcement of cancellation of all winter flights by the Corendon International Travels, The Netherland due to the government restrictions.

Speaking to The Chronicle, the Purchasing Manager of Corendon International Travels – The Netherlands, Rene Oude Groeniger welcomed the change in decision of the tourism authorities. However, he said the Company must still obtain a new clearance before any service can be effected in the country.

“We will still need approval from Dutch Government which can take a long time,” Groeniger tells The Chronicle.

The Acting Director General of Gambia Tourism Board, Abubacarr Camara told The Chronicle that the amendment is necessary because the country cannot afford to lose this year’s winter tourist’s season.

The government initially maintained that visiting tourists to the country will spend two weeks in quarantine, as a preventing the upsurge of covid-19 cases in the country.