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The country’s government announced on 20 December the immediate suspension of all flights between the UK and Italy. Additionally, anyone already in Italy who has been in the UK in the 14 days before 20 December, must report to their local health authorities and take a COVID-19 rapid antigenic or molecular swab test. These measures will remain in place until 6 January, and have been introduced in response to the discovery of a new strain of COVID-19 within parts of the UK.

The country’s government has announced a ban on all passenger travel, with the exception of Portuguese citizens and those legally resident in Portugal, between the UK and Portugal from 24.00 (GMT) on Sunday 20 December. The restriction has been introduced in response to the discovery of a new strain of COVID-19 within parts of the UK.

The UK prime minister has this evening announced a new COVID-19 ‘Tier 4’, which will apply predominantly to areas in London and the South-East and will come into effect from 23.59 (local time) this evening, Saturday 19 December. Among the restrictions announced for ‘Tier 4’ regions will be an advisory for the public not to travel in or out of the area, as well as restrictions on international travel.

In a bid to boost confidence amongst business travellers and revive the brand’s events business, Marriott has announced that it will begin to roll-out pre-event COVID-19 testing from January, initially in U.S. properties in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Colorado. It is hoped that the scheme, which will include options ranging from 15-minute rapid testing to PCR tests, will then be able to roll out in all Marriott brands and properties who wish to participate.

The country’s government has announced that Poland will enter a national ‘quarantine’ from 28 December to 17 January which will include the closure of hotels and shopping malls. No new restrictions are due to be imposed for Christmas, however in addition to the measures from 28 December, a New Year’s Eve curfew from 19.00 to 06.00 (local time) has also been announced, and anyone returning to the country by public transport must quarantine for 10 days.

The governments of some Australian states have re-imposed increased COVID-19 restrictions following the confirmation of a clustered outbreak of the virus in New South Wales' (NSW) northern beaches. The state of Queensland has also recorded three new cases of COVID-19 and has declared NSW's northern beaches a 'hotspot'. The state of Tasmania has closed its border to anyone who has been in the same on or since 11 December, and the states of Victoria and the Northern Territory have asked people who have been on the northern beaches to quarantine for 14 days. The state of Western Australia has gone one step further and imposed this restriction on anyone arriving from the state of New South Wales (NSW) as a whole. More to come.

The UK government has announced that further regions within England will move to COVID-19 tier ‘three’ from tomorrow, 19 December. This includes Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, parts of Surrey, East Sussex, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire. Bristol and North Somerset will move from tier ‘three’ to tier ‘two’, and Herefordshire will move from tier ‘two’ into tier ‘one’; the changes come into effect at 00:01 (GMT) tomorrow morning.

The airline has announced that from 28 March it will commence a non-stop daily service from South Africa's Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport to New York Newark Airport; the resumption of the route will also facilitate onward connections to multiple destinations across the Americas.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Northern Ireland has announced that it will enter a six-week COVID-19 lockdown from 26 December in a bid to contain cases of the virus. All non-essential shops, pubs, bars and restaurants will close on this date with the exception of takeaway food services.

Severe weather warnings are currently in place for 14 U.S. states in the north-east of the country, as a powerful snowstorm is due to sweep across them; parts of Pennsylvania and New York are predicted as much as two feet of snow. Reports suggest that up to 1500 flights, mainly domestic, have been cancelled so far - and so any passengers due to travel should pay close attention to their flight status.

The UK government has announced that from 04.00 (GMT) on Saturday 19 December, anyone arriving or returning to England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from Uruguay, Namibia or the U.S. Virgin Islands will be required to self-isolate. This week, no countries have been added to the 'travel corridor' list, and the UK transport secretary has confirmed that only 'emergency' amendments to the list will be made until 7 January 2021, when regular weekly updates are likely to resume. As a reminder, under the ‘Test to Release’ scheme in England only, arriving or returning passengers from destinations NOT on the ‘travel corridor’ list can now opt to reduce their self-isolation period to as little as five days, by utilising a government-approved private testing service.

The devolved government of the UK nation of Wales have announced that from 28 December, it will enter COVID-19 level ‘four’, the highest level of its restrictions. The phase will initially last for at least three weeks, during which time non-essential retail, hospitality businesses and all leisure and fitness centres must stay closed. Social contact outside households or support bubbles - whether indoors or outdoors - is not allowed, and people must stay at home if possible.

There have been some mixed and unclear reports since yesterday evening, 16 December, regarding a possible ‘border closure’ by the island of Tenerife. The latest this morning by a number of sources is that no such ban on international travellers will be enforced, as long as passengers comply to COVID-19 PCR pre-testing requirements.

The country’s government has announced in a televised address that the Netherlands will enter into a second tough COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ for at least five weeks, including a limitation on gatherings of more than two people. An exception will be made for three days at Christmas, however. The government also urged people to postpone non-essential travel until 15 March, two months later than the previous advisory.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume daily flights to Istanbul, Turkey from 21 December via the EK121 and EK122 flight numbers. The addition of Istanbul expands Emirates’ European network to 31 destinations.

The UK airport has announced that four flights per week will resume to Geneva from 19 December, operated by home-based carrier BA CityFlyer. The route was London City Airport's ninth most popular in 2019, connecting 190,000 passengers to Switzerland’s second largest city.

The UK’s health secretary has confirmed that London, most of Essex and parts of Hertfordshire will move into England’s highest tier of COVID-19 restrictions, tier 'three', from 00.01 (GMT) tomorrow, 16 December. Pubs and restaurants in this, the highest tier, must close except for takeaway and delivery; also under the rules, sports fans cannot attend events in stadiums, and indoor entertainment venues - such as theatres, bowling alleys and cinemas - must remain shut.

The airline, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld Alliance, is set to increase the frequency of passenger flights from the country;s capital of Colombo to Singapore from once a week to three-times weekly, starting from 18 December. In addition to this, SriLankan Airlines will also operate a weekly service between Kuala Lumpur and Colombo every Friday.

The government of Singapore has announced today, 15 December, that it's set to launch a new segregated travel lane for business travellers on short-term stays; the initiative will be open to a limited number of business, official, and high economic value travelers from all countries who are coming to Singapore for short-term stays of up to 14 days. Applications are due to open in mid-January 2021, and passengers will be required to adhere to strict COVID-19 health and testing protocols, including staying within a 'bubble' at segregated facilities.

The airline has announced that it is the latest carrier to provide free COVID-19 insurance cover for passengers who test positive for the virus while travelling. The policies are provided by Allianz Travel and cover medical costs relating to a positive diagnosis, as well as isolation and additional travel costs. The cover applies to all passengers on Japan Airlines (JAL) marketed and operated flights for travel between 23 December 2020 and 30 June 2021, and is valid for 31 days from the first leg of the journey.