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The low-cost airline has made an early release of the schedules for over 1,800 flights per week on 160 routes during summer 2022. The schedule includes destinations such as Faro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Marseille and Malta; cities such as Budapest, Copenhagen, Lisbon are Rome included.

The low-cost airline has said that it will introduce more flexible policies ahead of the 2021 summer travel season, in an effort to boost passenger confidence; passengers will be able to change their flights without a fee at any time up to two hours prior to departure. If a mandatory hotel quarantine impacts a destination, passengers can also now request a refund for their flight within four weeks prior to departure if the restriction is still in place, even if flights are still operating.

The country's government said yesterday, 28 April, that it is considering plans to allow public events with up to 3,000 spectators from July, although such events would be restricted to attendees who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, can prove they've recovered from the illness or test negative. Elsewhere, Switzerland this month further eased other COVID-19 restrictions, allowing restaurants to re-open outdoor terraces and sports events to take place with much more limited audiences; cinemas and concert venues can also re-admit limited numbers of guests.

The Icelandic flag-carrier has announced that it is to offer 'Covid Plus' medical insurance to passengers, which it says will enable instant payouts to affected passengers and give greater peace of mind for current or future travel bookings.

The government of the British island territory has announced a phased program of tightened entry and on-island COVID-19 restrictions to be enforced throughout June in order to curb a recent spike in cases of the virus. Effective 6 June, all visitors aged 10 years and over must submit proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result obtained a maximum of three days prior to arrival; currently, the window applies to a test result obtained at least five days prior to arrival. Test results must then be entered as part of the online travel authorisation process.

The government of New Zealand has confirmed that quarantine-free travel between the country and the region of Western Australia will begin again at 12 midday (local time) on 28 April, for passengers who are not close contacts of known COVID-19 cases. The same arrangement had previously been paused after the announcement of a three-day lockdown in Perth, Western Australia which ended at 00.01 (local time) on 27 April.

The middle-eastern airline has announced that it will operate three weekly flights to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire via Accra from 16 June; the route becomes the fourth new destination in Africa announced by Qatar Airways since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Abidjan service will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 22 seats in business class and 232 in economy.

The UK transport secretary has confirmed that an NHS mobile app will from 17 May be used to allow Britons to demonstrate whether they have had a COVID-19 vaccination, or tested negative for the virus, before travelling internationally; the country is hoping to re-open international borders to leisure travel from this date, with confirmation expected in the coming days. Officials are planning to launch a ‘traffic light’ system, with safe countries rated ‘green’, while travel to ‘red’ countries will be prohibited.

The Dubai-based airline and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have said that they have started to implement full digital verification of COVID-19 medical records connected to testing and vaccination for travellers based in the UAE; the new streamlined verification procedures will enable secure and faster processing times for customers departing from Dubai International Airport.

The Spanish low-cost airline has said that it's set to offer twice-weekly flights between the UK's Newcastle International Airport and Barcelona this summer; the services will operate to and from Barcelona-El Prat Airport on Wednesdays and Sundays between July and October.

The airline has announced four new short-haul routes to Wroclaw and Gdansk in Poland, Riga in Latvia and Cluj-Napoca in Romania; all are due to start from the beginning of July and operate throughout the summer season. All flights will be served from London Heathrow Airport, with those to Wroclaw operating twice per week, and those to Gdansk, Riga and Cluj-Napoca operating three times per week.

London Luton Airport has announced that in preparation for the expected restart of UK international travel from 17 May, it has opened a new in-terminal COVID-19 testing facility with its partner, Collinson. The expansion adds to the existing drive-through facility located in the mid-term car park, which launched in December. Across both facilities, the full range of UK government-approved COVID-19 test options will be on offer.

The major of the Austrian capital has announced that the city will cautiously loosen its current COVID-19 'lockdown' measures from 3 May, a month after they were introduced; thus far nationally, Austria has undergone three such periods, the last of which was eased in February. Vienna, however, reintroduced a full 'lockdown' on 1 April to help hospitals facing rising cases of the virus.

Government officials in India have announced that from today, 27 April, the city of Bengaluru will enter a 14-day COVID-19 'lockdown' as both it and the country nationally battles a sharp surge in infections; Karnataka state, of which Bengaluru is capital, will also face the same measures during this time frame.

The country's finance minister has warned that Germany's government does not expect moves to be made to ease current COVID-19 restrictions until the end of May, following a further rise in COVID-19 infections in the past week, despite stricter measures. New laws passed by Germany's parliament last week also give the federal government more power to impose overnight curfews in areas where COVID-19 cases exceed 100 per 100,000 population on three consecutive days.

The government of the Caribbean island of Grenada has announced that fully COVID-19 vaccinated passengers entering from 1 May will only be required to quarantine for 48 hours, pending the result of a PCR test administered at point of entry; they must also book approved accommodation for a minimum of two nights. Arrivals who are not fully vaccinated or are unable to provide proof of their vaccination will be required to quarantine for up to seven days in approved accommodations, with a COVID-19 PCR test administered on day five.

The government of Malta has announced that it has placed the UK on its 'amber' travel list, meaning that non-vaccinated travellers will not need to quarantine on arrival if they have a negative COVID-19 PCR test result; the test should be carried out within the previous 72 hours prior to boarding a plane to Malta.

The country's president has announced that people will be required to stay mostly at home under a nationwide 'full lockdown' beginning on 29 April and lasting until at least 17 May; the measures are being introduced in order to curb a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths. Among the restrictions will be the requirement for official approval for all inter-city travel, the closing of all schools, caps on public transport capacity, and permission to leave home to be limited to the reasons of essential shopping and urgent medical treatment only.

Government officials from the two regions have confirmed that Hong Kong and Singapore will finally establish a long-awaited COVID-19 travel bubble from 26 May, as they move to re-establish travel links and lift the hurdle of quarantine requirements for visiting passengers. The scheme will start with one flight per day into each city, with up to 200 passengers on each flight; those wanting to travel from either city must test negative for COVID-19 before departure and on arrival. Hong Kong residents can also only fly to Singapore at least 14 days after they have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

The national carrier of Belgium has said that it will start of resume flight services to 43 destinations throughout the spring and summer, including its first flights across the North Atlantic in more than a year; once added, the airline will serve a total of 79 destinations.