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Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s ultra-low-fare national airline, will now add its second Russian flight destination, this time to Krasnodar. The announcement follows the recent addition of Moscow to the airline’s flight network making Krasnodar the second Russian destination available with Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. The flight to Krasnodar will operate two times a week on Monday and Friday. Tickets are on sale on wizzair.com and the airline’s mobile app (also available in Arabic)

Fully vaccinated close contacts of Omicron cases will no longer need to quarantine for 14 days. Instead, they'll only have to isolate for seven days. ACT Health is also updating restrictions for domestic and international travellers to the ACT from 11:59pm tonight. Except for close contacts of interstate cases, there will no longer be any restrictions on interstate travel to the ACT. People will no longer need to fill out a declaration or exemption form to travel to the ACT, and all remaining high risk geographical areas will be removed. The three-day quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated overseas arrivals will be retained, and this is likely to remain over the Christmas and New Year period.

The Western Australian Government will raise New South Wales' Covid-19 risk level to 'extreme' from 12:01 Saturday. The decision means travel will no longer be permitted between the two states, except in extraordinary circumstances. WA residents, currently in New South Wales, are urged to return home immediately according to WA Premier Mark McGowan. The move will bring New South Wales onto the same risk level as Victoria.

Morocco has extended the current suspension of all flights and ferries into the country until 31 December. The country initially put the travel ban in place on 29 November until 13 December in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Qatar Airways will add Tashkent, Uzbekistan to its global network with twice weekly flights from next month. The first flight from Doha to Tashkent will take off on January 17, 2022, operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft, featuring 12 seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class. The twice-weekly service will depart Doha every Monday and Friday.

A new Russian government ruling on COVID cancels all earlier exceptions for diplomatic passport holders, travellers on business visas, and some other categories of visitors from Hong Kong and nine African nations – Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Eswatini, and South Africa. The highest number of those infected with the Omicron variant has been detected in South Africa. The new strain has since been recorded in over 50 countries.

People who travel to Ireland from Great Britain will be required to take daily lateral flow tests for five consecutive days after arrival was announced last night 9 December. The tests will be in addition to the recently announced requirement that travellers to the republic have a negative PCR or lateral flow test before boarding a ferry or plane.

Effective Saturday 11 December, the Caribbean island of Nevis no longer requires fully vaccinated international travellers to quarantine on entry, with proof of a negative PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival. Restrictions have also been loosened for non-vaccinated or partially vaccinated nationals and citizens returning to the island. They must now quarantine for nine days as opposed to the previous 14 days.

The Council of the European Union agreed on 9 December that Croatia now meets all the criteria to join the borderless Schengen Area. The Schengen Zone now counts 26 members, 22 of which also EU Member Countries. Croatia is one of the last four EU countries that are still not part of the Schengen Area, alongside Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus.

The US CDC issued a Level 4 recommendation yesterday (December 6) against travel to France, Portugal, Jordan, Cyprus, Andorra, Liechtenstein and Tanzania, adding to a long list of destinations, including Germany and Denmark. The State Department issued an aligning warning against travel to the above countries and added Fiji to its ‘Do Not Travel’ list.

France removed Mauritius from its list of ‘scarlet’ destinations last night (December 7), just days after it was added. All visitors to Mauritius are required to be vaccinated and to undergo PCR testing within 72 hours prior to travel.

Nigeria has been added to the UK’s travel red list following 21 cases of Omicron reported in England that are linked to travel from Nigeria, with 134 UK cases now reported in total. UK and Irish citizens and residents arriving from Nigeria must isolate in a government-approved managed quarantine facility for 10 days, and receive two negative PCR tests.

Starting tomorrow (December 7), the UK will further tighten its entry requirements for foreign travellers, including those coming from non-red-listed countries. All international travellers aged 12 and over, regardless of vaccination status, will need to provide proof of a negative pre-departure test – either PCR or lateral flow – taken no more than 48 hours prior to departure. Airlines will be responsible for checking that travellers have their negative pre-departure tests, along with their completed passenger locator forms, and no one will be permitted to board a UK-bound flight without one.

France has increased COVID-19 entry restrictions. Arrivals from outside the EU must now provide proof of a negative PCR or antigen test taken within 48 hours of arrival and show proof of vaccination. France will also require a negative test from all travellers inside the EU. EU travellers will need to provide a negative PCR or antigen test within 24 hours of arrival in France instead of 48 hours. Additionally, from December 15, anyone who received a shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine must prove they’ve received a booster jab.

According to a recent notice on the website of the Zambia Ministry of Health, all entrants into Zambia coming from countries where there are cases of Omicron have to undergo 10 days of quarantine on arrival. Returning citizens, residents and permit-holders may quarantine at home, but non-residents are required to quarantine in designated quarantine centres, at their own cost.

Canada announced on Saturday (December 4) that it would allow Canadians to return home from South Africa if they had a negative molecular test taken within two days of departure, and leave on flights transiting through Frankfurt on or before December 13.

Passengers will not be allowed to board a flight to the UK without producing evidence of a negative PCR or lateral flow test result. The UK will require all travellers to take a pre-flight Covid-19 test within 48 hours prior to their flight – regardless of their vaccine status. The amended rules come into force from 4am on Tuesday this week and come in light of the continued spread of the Omicron variant. They will apply to vaccinated passengers and children aged 12 and above.

Saudi Arabia on Friday announced the lifting of air travel restrictions from countries where flights were previously banned due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The circular allows passengers coming from Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Vietnam, Egypt and India to enter Saudi Arabia without the need to spend 14 days outside these countries before entering into the kingdom. However, they must spend five days in quarantine regardless of their vaccination status outside the kingdom, according to a statement carried by Saudi Press Agency.

Greater Adelaide has been declared a hotspot, with arrival restrictions to come in place from 1am on Sunday, 5 December. Anyone who has been in Greater Adelaide since 1am on the 28th of November who arrives in Queensland after 1am tomorrow (Sunday 5th Dec) will be required to go into 14 days mandatory home or hotel quarantine. Travellers are required to be fully vaccinated and a negative PCR test is NOT required on arrival - however they are required to get a test as soon as possible. Anyone arriving after 1am Monday the 6th of December, you will need to receive a negative COVID PCR test result in 72 hours prior to arrival, as well as being fully vaccinated.

From December 15, fully-vaccinated people wanting to enter Tasmania will have to complete an upgraded version of Tasmania's travel pass. "This will go live on the 12th of December and on completing the requirements of Tassie travel, a QR code for entry to Tasmania will be generated," Premier Peter Gutwein said. Anyone over the age of 12 will need to be fully vaccinated or have an approved medical exemption to enter the state. A negative COVID-19 test 72 hours prior to travel is required from those coming from a high-risk area or from overseas. Those not abiding by the rules will face a fine of up to $1,557 and can be summonsed and charged.