EgyptAir has announced the suspension of international flights to and from Oman until 29 December after Omani authorities decided to close the Gulf country’s borders over fears regarding a new coronavirus strain.

EgytAir urged customers who had booked flights to or from Oman to call its hotline, 1717, for updates on the situation.

This comes a few hours after the Egyptian national air carrier announced the suspension of international flights to and from Saudi Arabia for the same reason.

Oman is closing land, air and sea borders for one week starting Tuesday, state television reported.

Saudi Arabia shut its land and sea borders on Sunday and suspended international commercial flights for one week, according to the interior ministry. Kuwait is taking similar action.

The decisions were issued after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that a highly infectious new strain of the virus has been discovered, and that millions of Britons would have to cancel their Christmas plans and stay home. 

As a result, a number of countries have banned flights from the UK, while others have halted all travel activities for one week.

In March, international air traffic came to a halt as part of unprecedented measures that were adopted following the detection of a slew of coronavirus cases worldwide. The suspension was phased out four months later.