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The island's Grantley Adams airport has re-opened following a week-long closure due to the ash fall from La Soufriere volcano on St. Vincent. In St. Vincent, however, Argyle airport remains closed due to heavy ash fall; the island was hit by another eruption on 18 April, blanketing St. Vincent with another layer of ash.

The airline has announced that its passengers due to travel before 31 May will be among the first to trial the IATA Travel Pass app to manage their travel health credentials. The new technology will be tried on routes from the airline's hub in Abu Dhabi to Chicago, New York, Washington and Toronto; the app will enable Etihad’s passengers to create a ‘digital passport’ to receive COVID-19 test results and verify they are eligible to undertake their journey.

The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reportedly warned that it could impose restrictions on people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, as the region’s business and tourism hub pushes its immunisation campaign. The UAE, where social distancing and mask-wearing in public are required, is among the countries with the world’s fastest COVID-19 vaccination programmes.

The island's government has announced the addition of an entry requirement for U.S. passengers; a rapid COVID-19 antigen test on the third day of a stay in Curacao is now mandatory, in addition to the existing entry requirements of a Digital Immigration Card and a Passenger Locator Card (PLC) uploaded within 48 hours of travel - and proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result obtained within 72 hours of departure. Passengers typically will receive their antigen test results within 20 minutes to one hour, on average. The antigen tests in Curacao vary in price but typically start at $20 USD.

The U.S. airline has announced that it will add flight services to Croatia, Greece and Iceland during Summer 2021, as United focusses its upcoming transatlantic schedules on countries which are easing COVID-19 travel restrictions. The airline will fly between Newark and Dubrovnik, Croatia, three-times weekly from 8 July through to 3 October; it will expand its Greece service with daily flights from Washington Dulles to Athens running between 1 July and 3 October; finally, United will fly daily between Chicago and Reykjavik from 1 July through to 3 October, competing on the route with Icelandair.

The UK’s Department of Transport has announced a change to be made to England’s ‘red list’ from 04.00 (GMT) on Friday 23 April 2021. From this date, visitors who have departed from or transited through India in the previous 10 days will be refused entry to England. Only British and Irish citizens, or those with residence rights (including long-term visa holders) will be permitted to enter; however, they must stay in a government-approved facility for 10 days.

The country's government yesterday, 19 April, lifted COVID-19 quarantine restrictions for travellers from most European countries and the United States, as well as Israel; the easing of measures come as it prepares to re-open tourism services from next month. Air travelers from exempt countries will no longer be subject to a seven-day quarantine requirement if they hold a vaccination certificate or negative PCR test issued within the previous 72 hours. Other exempt countries include the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Iceland, Liechstenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The middle-eastern carrier has introduced the second version of its Honeywell ultraviolet (UV) cabin system, further advancing its hygiene measures on board in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The system now features extended UV wings that treat both narrow and wide areas on board, reducing the overall disinfection time. This version also includes a hand wand that disinfects areas like the cockpit and other smaller spaces and is non-motorised leading to less battery consumption.

The government of the U.S. state of Alaska has said that COVID-19 vaccines are due to be made available to visitors at key airports from 1 June, in a further attempt to bolster the state's tourism industry, which has been heavily affected by the pandemic. The state plans to offer vaccines at airports in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Ketchikan, with the clinics outside the security area; they will be available to anyone passing through from 1 June. State health officials are also encouraging travelers to test for COVID-19, although it's no longer mandated.

The U.S. state department said yesterday, 19 April, that it plans to boost its 'do not travel' guidance for citizens to include 80% of destination countries worldwide, citing the risk to travellers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently around 34 our of 200 countries are listed under the level four guidance, implying that this will shortly increase to around 130 countries. So far, no indication has been given as to when the measures will eventually ease.

The country's government has announced that its capital of New Delhi will be under a strict COVID-19 'lockdown' for six days from the evening of Monday 19 April, following the news that India's healthcare system is at breaking point due to the worsening spikes in cases of the virus.

The government of Hong Kong has announced that it will suspend flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines from 20 April for two weeks after a mutant COVID-19 strain was detected in the Asian financial hub for the first time. The three countries will now be classified as 'extremely high risk' for the virus, after there have been multiple imported cases carrying the strain into Hong Kong in the past 14 days, the government have said.

The Dubai-based airline has become the latest carrier to launch trials of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass. The mobile app is designed to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with any government requirements for COVID-19 testing or vaccine information. In the future, travellers will also be able to share vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel.

French authorities will restrict who can travel to France from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and South Africa, and will impose a 10-day quarantine on those who do. Entry from the four listed countries will be limited to French citizens and their families, citizens of other EU countries, and foreigners with permanent homes in France. Travellers must have tested negative for the virus before take-off, and will be given antigenic tests on arrival. The above restrictions will come into effect on 24 April. Currently, travellers from France’s low risk list of countries are not restricted and are subject to only a seven-day quarantine period according to France’s ministry of foreign affairs.

The Latvian airline has announced that from 2 September it will launch new flights from its base in Riga to Tenerife in Spain; the new service will operate three times per week using an Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

The Abu Dhabi-based low-cost airline has announced that it will soon launch two new summer flight routes from London Luton Airport to Antalya in Turkey and Rzeszow in Poland. The services are due to begin from 22 June and 22 September respectively; with the addition of these new destinations, the airline will now operate a total of 74 routes from its base at London Luton Airport.

The government of France has announced that it will order a strict 10-day quarantine for all passengers arriving from Brazil from 24 April, in a bad to prevent the spread of a COVID-19 variant first discovered in the South American country. In addition, the suspension of all flights to Brazil by the government of France has now been extended until at least 23 April.

Marriott International has announced that members on its Bonvoy loyalty program can now earn points via Uber, in an effort to diversify the hotel brand's loyalty offering amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the partnership, Bonvoy members can earn points toward free nights at Marriott properties, including home rentals, by ordering food delivery via Uber Eats or requesting select Uber rides. The perk is available in the United States, and those who sign up and have at least one qualifying transaction by May 31 will get 2,000 Bonvoy bonus points.

The Canadian luxury rail-tour company has announced that it has delayed the start of its travel season in the country until at least 5 July 2021; the operator had previously hoped to begin offering services in June.

The low-cost U.S. airline has announced seven new flight routes to Latin America and the Caribbean to be launched in Summer 2021. From Miami the carrier will serve St. Maarten, Nassau and San Jose, Costa Rica. From Orlando, Frontier will fly to St Maarten and San Jose. From San Juan, the airline will serve St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. And from Dallas-Fort Worth, Frontier will be flying to Cancun. Launch dates for the routes range from 10 June through to 10 July, and frequencies range from weekly to four times per week.