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To curb the spread of new variants of COVID-19, the Hong Kong government announced yesterday 28 June that all passenger flights from the UK would be banned from flying to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, starting Thursday 1 July. Hong Kong authorities classified the UK as “extremely high risk” because of the “recent rebound of the epidemic situation in the UK and the widespread Delta variant virus strain there”. Under the new classification, people who have stayed in the UK for more than two hours will be restricted from boarding passenger flights to Hong Kong.

New Zealand will resume quarantine-free travel with Victoria, Tasmania, ACT and SA from 11:59pm (NZT) on Sunday, July 4. Negative pre-departure tests will be required to enter New Zealand.

A 3-day lockdown has been introduced for parts of Queensland. From 6pm tonight till 6pm Friday, southeast Queensland, Townsville, Palm Island and Magnetic Island will go into lockdown.

Austria has lifted its travel restrictions and reopened its borders to US visitors. Since Thursday 24 June, American citizens and residents have been allowed to enter Austria without the need to quarantine, provided they meet the requirements of Austria’s COVID-19 travel protocols. Travellers must meet any of the following three criteria to enter Austria: Proof of vaccination (vaccination certificate), proof of recovery from COVID-19 (from a doctor or public authority in the past six months), and a negative COVID-19 test result (either a PCR or rapid antigen test taken no more than 48 hours before arrival).

The Tasmanian government has announced travellers from Perth and Peel areas will not be allowed to enter Tasmania unless they have an exemption from 10am AEST Tuesday 29 June.

The English government has published an update to its list of travel destinations under the traffic light system. The announcement came first from Northern Ireland and has been mirrored by England, Wales and Scotland. As widely expected, Malta has been added to the green list, with the Balearic Islands and the Caribbean nations of Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Dominica, and Grenada added to a green watchlist, meaning at any moment these may be moved to amber. In addition, the UK overseas territories of Anguilla and Montserrat, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Pitcairn, and Turks and Caicos Islands have also been added to the green watchlist.

The Netherlands has removed restrictions for travellers from various countries and eased regulations for several more. Travellers do not need to show a negative COVID-19 test, provided they come from a country where the risk of contracting COVID-19 is low. They are also not required to self-quarantine. Travel to The Netherlands from the following countries was previously highly regulated, but is now restriction-free: Albania, Belgium, All of Croatia, Estonia, All of France, All of Greece (except Athens), Hong Kong, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macau, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Taiwan and the United States

Western Australia has called a four-day lockdown of the Perth and Peel region, effective from midnight last night. Premier Mark McGowan said residents would only be allowed to leave the house for essential shopping, exercise in groups of less than 2, work & caregiving. Three positive cases confirmed as of last night - cases two and three are both linked back to case number one - Delta strain from the Sydney outbreak.

easyJet has put over 50,000 extra seats on sale to new green list destinations this summer. The move comes as that Malta and the Balearics Islands are added to the UK safe list for international travel. New flights include two new routes from Bristol and London Luton to Malta, which will launch next month, and more seats to the island destination on existing routes from London Gatwick and Manchester.

British Airways will seek to replace the collapsed Stobart Air on a number of UK domestic routes this summer. The flag-carrier is launching four new domestic routes from Belfast this summer, supporting important business and tourism links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Over the next few months, the airline will start to operate 18 flights a week between George Best Belfast City Airport and Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford and Newquay airports.

Qatar Airways has increased its service to Nigeria’s financial centre, Lagos, to two daily flights. Starting from July 1st, the service will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in business class and 232 seats in economy. With the addition of Côte d’Ivoire on June 16th as the fourth new African destination since the start of the pandemic, Qatar Airways currently operates over 100 weekly flights to 27 destinations in Africa.

Qatar Airways has welcomed Abidjan to its global network as its debut flight to the largest city in Côte d’Ivoire lands at Felix Houphouet Boigny International Airport. With three weekly flights, the service between Doha and Abidjan via Accra will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in business class and 232 seats in economy, along with capacity of up to 15 tonnes of cargo.

In New South Wales, the Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong, and Shellharbour LGAs has entered a two-week lockdown from 2pm on Saturday 26 June. Northern Territory has implemented a 48-hour lockdown for Greater Darwin from 1pm on Sunday 27 June. South Australia has closed its borders to Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory. The state already has restrictions on travel from New South Wales and some sites in Melbourne.

Ministers have mooted plans to allow quarantine-free travel to amber-list countries for people in England who have been fully vaccinated. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, confirmed earlier that ministers were considering how to scrap the requirement for people to isolate for ten-days on return from a country on the list.

South Africa will move to adjusted alert level four on Monday 28 June 2021 until Sunday 11 July 2021. All COVID-19 health and safety protocols must be followed, including observance of guidelines for social distancing, sanitation, hygiene and use of appropriate personal protective equipment, like cloth face masks. Additional measures to be implemented under adjusted alert level four - All gatherings are prohibited except for funerals and cremations, which are limited to 50 people. Public spaces such as beaches and parks will remain open, however no gatherings will be permitted in these spaces. Curfew will be in place between 21h00 pm and 04h00 am. Non-essential establishments are to close by 20h00 pm. The sale of alcohol for on-site and off-site consumption is prohibited. Restaurants are allowed to sell food for take away only. Travel in/out of Gauteng Province for leisure purposes is prohibited. If anyone is not in their place of residence at this time, they will be permitted to return home. Travel for business or commercial purposes will be permitted in/out of Gauteng Province as well as travel for transit purposes. Should your travel to/from an airport fall outside of curfew hours, you will need to produce your ticket or travel itinerary to show your reason for travel.

Quarantine Free Travel from all Australian states and territories paused from 10.30 pm (NZT) Saturday 26 June until 11.59 pm (NZT) on Tuesday 29 June.

Relaxed travel rules for fully vaccinated Canadians may make visiting the United States easier for some, but uncertainly around travelling with unvaccinated children is already causing frustration for others, travel experts say.

Europe is opening up to Americans and other visitors after more than a year of COVID-induced restrictions. But travelers will need patience to figure out who’s allowed into which country, how and when.

The New South Wales government has implemented stay-at-home orders for Woolhara, Waverley, Randwick and the City of Sydney local government areas. Restrictions will begin at 11:59pm on Friday, 25 June until 11:59pm on Friday, 2 July. During this time, people will only be allowed to leave their homes for four reasons: to travel for necessary work or education, outdoor exercise, to provide care or compassion to a relative and buying essential goods or services.

South Australia has closed its border with New South Wales. People currently travelling to South Australia from New South Wales, or who have been in that state in last 14 days, will not be permitted to enter South Australia.