Biman Bangladesh airlines has cancelled its all flights to Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam for one week from Monday as Saudi Arabia imposed a one-week flight restriction after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus appeared in Britain.

The national flag carrier disclosed the information in press release on Monday.

Passengers of cancelled flights will be allotted seats on priority basis subject to seat vacancy after resumption of flight, the release said.

Earlier on Sunday, Saudi Arabia halted international flights and suspended entry through its land and sea ports for at least a week, after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus appeared in Britain.

The development comes after several European countries banned travel from Britain on Sunday as the UK government warned that a highly infectious new strain of the virus was “out of control”.

Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than 361,000 novel coronavirus cases, including more than 6,000 deaths — the highest among the Gulf Arab states.