Search alerts

The government of the UAE emirate of Dubai have announced that entry to passengers who have travelled from or through South Africa in the past ten days will now be suspended, after it introduced a raft of new restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19. Travellers from South Africa holding valid Dubai residence visas will also need government approval before being allowed to depart. Returning residents, who have received approval from the GDRFA or Federal Authority, must also produce two negative COVID-19 PCR test results. These tests must be completed within 96 hours of departure and then upon arrival in Dubai. Rapid antigen test certificates will not be accepted. South Africans will still be allowed to transit through Dubai International Airport on route to their final destinations to other countries which still allow for entry. South Africans in transit will still need to produce a negative Covid-19 test and will be confined to the airport precinct.

The middle-eastern airline has announced that it will resume flights from it's hub in Abu Dhabi to Doha in Qatar, starting from 15 February; the service will operate daily using an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

The airline has launched a bid to vaccinate all of its UAE-based workforce against COVID-19, in a move that hopes to increase passenger confidence in flying with Emirates. The inoculation drive has already started, with priority being placed on its frontline aviation workforce, including cabin crew, flight deck and other operationally focused roles.

The country's government has announced that from 23 January they will place a ban on passenger flights from the UK, South Africa and a number of South American countries. In addition, if passengers are travelling from areas with a high incidence of COVID-19, regardless of their nationality, they must present two negative COVID-19 test results; the first is a negative PCR test result obtained a maximum of 72 hours prior to departure, and the second is a negative rapid test result obtained no more than four hours prior to boarding. Locally, a restrictive COVID-19 'lockdown’ remains in place in the country until at least 9 February, included a nighttime curfew.

The airline has partnered with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in order to launch a 'Travel Pass' for passengers; the mobile app is designed to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with government requirements for COVID-19 tests or vaccines. The mobile app will initially be offered to Etihad’s passengers on selected flights from Abu Dhabi in the first quarter of 2021 - if successful, it will be extended to other destinations on the airline's network.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Scotland has confirmed that current COVID-19 restrictions are to be extended until at least the middle of February, with schools remaining closed to the majority of pupils; the measures include a legally-enforceable stay-at-home order. All non-essential shops, pubs, cafes, bars, gyms and hairdressers are closed and travel restrictions prevent anyone leaving their local authority area, with limited exceptions. The situation will be reviewed on 2 February.

The airline has launched a bid to vaccinate all of its crew against COVID-19, in a move that hopes to increase passenger confidence in flying with Singapore Airlines. Mirroring a similar scheme at Dubai-based airline Emirates, Singapore Airlines hope to offer the vaccine to pilots, gate agents, flight attendants and anyone whose job requires contact with the public.

The country's government has published updated entry requirements; if travelling to Australia on or after 22 January, passengers must present evidence of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result to their airline at check-in; the result must have been obtained a maximum of 72 hours prior to departure. If passengers transit through a third country on their return journey to Australia, they are required to check on any local requirements at their transit destination and confirm with their airline any specific requirements for onward travel. Masks must be worn on all international flights, including at airports, and limited exemptions from the pre-departure testing requirements can be found on the Australian Department of Health website.

The New Zealand Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands. The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 23.59 (NZT) on 25 January, to minimise disruption for those passengers with imminent departures. Other countries will be considered for exclusion if their situations change.

The country's government has today, 19 January, announced that it will extend COVID-19 lockdown restrictions across most of the country in order to curb further increases in infections. Last week capital city Kuala Lumpur and six states went into a two-week lockdown meaning that essential sectors including manufacturing, plantations and construction were allowed to stay open, but a nationwide travel ban was implemented; the lockdown will now also be imposed on six other states from 22 January for two weeks.

The country's government has imposed a 15-day COVID-19 lockdown on the capital city of Kigali, as Rwanda battles a second wave of cases of the virus; all movement outside homes in the capital will now require an approved permit from the police, except for essential service providers. Travel between Kigali and other provinces and districts will not be permitted, except for essential services and tourism, and tourists must have COVID-19-negative certificates. The government has also increased the hours of a nationwide night-time curfew which is now amended to between 18.00 and 04.00 daily.

The country's government announced yesterday, 18 January, that it will impose an extended nightly curfew in the capital city of Bogota for almost two weeks, while the whole city will also enter another full quarantine measure this coming weekend. The nightly curfew from 20.00 to 04.00 (local time) will now be in force until at least 28 January.

The governments of the Australian state of Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) have confirmed that they are further easing COVID-19 restrictions for domestic interstate travel. Among these relaxations, the Tasmanian premier announced yesterday , 18 January, that Greater Brisbane is now downgraded to be classified as ‘medium risk’, meaning travellers from the area are allowed to visit Tasmania. The Greater Sydney area and Wollongong in New South Wales however will remain unchanged as 'medium risk' for the time being. The Tasmanian government has also lifted restrictions for hotspots in the state of Victoria, meaning all travellers from the state are now classified as 'low risk' and can enter Tasmania without having to quarantine. From 22 January, a public health directive for face masks to be worn on commercial flights in Tasmanian airspace, both from interstate and within the state, and at airports, will come into force.

The country's government has today, 19 January, agreed with state leaders nationally to extend Germany's COVID-19 lockdown restrictions until at least 14 February to counter the spread of the virus. They also agreed to mandate a medical mask requirement for passengers on public transport.

The country's government confirmed yesterday, 18 January, that it had suspended entry to passengers from Australia, Brazil, Ireland and New Zealand following the discovery of its first imported case of a new variant of COVID-19 first detected in the UK; these measures are in addition to the suspension of entry to UK passengers which was imposed in late December. On 23 December, the country also imposed a nationwide four-week curfew from 21.00 to 06.00 (local time) daily to curb the spread of the virus.

The country's government has announced that it is extending Austria's national COVID-19 'lockdown' until 7 February in a drive to push down still-high infection figures, as officials worry about the possible impact of new COVID-19 variants. The country's chancellor has said that some local measures will also be tightened as a result of the more infectious variants that were first detected in Britain and South Africa, and that people will now be asked to stay two metres apart instead of one metre. Beginning on Jan. 25, they will also be required to wear full protective masks on public transport and in shops, rather than just fabric face coverings.

The country's government has announced that all UK 'travel corridors' that previously allowed arrivals from some countries to avoid having to self-isolate on arrival, have now been temporarily suspended from today, 18 January; all passengers from countries not subject to stricter measures must now self-isolate for 10 days, unless they qualify for a 'test to release' scheme, which could shorten this to as little as five days with a negative COVID-19 test result. Passengers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or air, also now have to show proof of a qualifying, negative COVID-19 test result to be allowed entry. The test must be taken in the 72 hours before travelling and anyone arriving without one faces a fine of up to £500. The UK government has said the travel corridor suspension will be in force until at least 15 February.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health has announced that all passengers arriving in Singapore must take a COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test when they land in the country. The decision to implement the rule comes following the resurgence of COVID-19 around the world, and has been put into place to prevent importation and local transmission of the new, more-transmissible virus strains that have been discovered. The rule not only applies to foreign passengers, but to Singaporeans and permanent residents of the country, and is to come into effect from 23.59 (local time) on 24 January.

The brand has announced that from 26 January it will begin on-property COVID-19 antigen testing across the majority of its properties, with guests able to schedule an onsite departure test via their concierge. Tests will be administered by international private hospital network 'Hospiten', with results available the same day. The Hospiten testing program will be available across most AMResorts destinations, except for Costa Rica, Curacao, St. Martin and Acapulco, Ixtapa and Huatulco, Mexico. AMResorts' portfolio, located throughout Mexico, Jamaica, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama and Spain, includes 67 properties under the Breathless, Zoetry, Secrets, Dreams, Now, Reflect, Sunscape and Alua brands.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Wales has confirmed that from 04.00 (local time) on 18 January, it will introduce a pre-departure COVID-19 testing requirement for all areas from outside the Common Travel Area of the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The measures will effectively mirror those imposed in Scotland and England which require arrivals by air, sea and rail to return a negative COVID-19 test result up to 72 hours prior to departure. England had been due to introduce like measures on Friday, but the rollout was later pushed back to Monday. Northern Ireland is preparing to enact similar rules. Like England, the Welsh pre-departure testing regime will operate alongside quarantine, rather than replacing it.