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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.

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.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume three weekly services to Malta via Larnaca, Cyprus, from 14 July; the resumption further expands its European network to 34 destinations and enhanced connectivity via Dubai.

The Abu Dhabi-based low-cost airline has announced the launch of its first ever UK domestic services, with flights from its Doncaster Sheffield and Cardiff bases to Jersey; beginning in July, these flights will operate twice weekly.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will will resume flights to Nice from 2 July and Lyon 9 July, initially offering four flights per week to each French city; the move is in line with France easing its COVID-19 entry requirements for visitors. The lifting of entry restrictions will enable travellers based in the UAE to visit France without the need for quarantine.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has reportedly dropped its flight route to Los Angeles permanently from its online route map; Etihad's decision not to resume Los Angeles flights as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to winds down leaves the airline with just three U.S. destinations - New York JFK, Washington Dulles and Chicago O'Hare. Prior to the pandemic, Etihad operated flights to Los Angeles five times per week, but the route has been suspended since March 2020.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume four weekly services to Thailand's resort island of Phuket from 2 July, to coincide with the re-opening of the popular destination to international tourists; in addition, those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 will enjoy even fewer restrictions, with no quarantine applicable on arrival. The Dubai-Phuket route will be operated with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration, offering premium services in first and business class as well as economy class.

The middle-eastern airline has announced the upcoming launch of a seasonal service between Muscat and Tbilisi, Georgia; Oman Air will offer two weekly direct flights, on Wednesdays and Sundays, operated with a Boeing 737 aircraft. The flights are currently due to operate until mid-September, subject to government approvals.

The Dubai-based airline has said that it will resume flights to Venice from 1 July, initially offering three weekly services on the route. Emirates will also increase services to Milan from eight to ten weekly flights in July. This will comprise of a daily service on the Dubai-Milan-New York JFK route, and a three-weekly return flights between Dubai and Milan. Together with five weekly flights to Rome and three weekly flights to Bologna, this will take the total services to Italy to 21 weekly flights to four cities in July.

U.S. carriers United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have resumed flights to Tel Aviv, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in unrest that had included rockets fired in the vicinity of Ben Gurion International Airport. Delta Air Lines operated its first flight from New York to Tel Aviv since early last week on the evening of 21 May; United Airlines also resumed service on 21 May, and American Airlines plans to restart flights from New York to Tel Aviv on 24 May.

The country's government re-opened its borders to international tourists on 24 May following a fall in COVID-19 infections, but said it would take time for passengers to start arriving and to revive its tourism industry. Under an easing of its restrictions, a plan to start letting in small groups of tourists from countries using COVID-19 vaccines of which it approves will begin; due to continue until 15 June, visits by 20 groups of between 5 and 30 tourists from countries including the United States, Britain and Germany have been given the green light.

The government of the Maldives has said that it is in the process of creating a travel corridor between the Maldives and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which will allow COVID-19 vaccinated passengers to move freely between the two nations; however as of now, no specific date has been revealed.

The suspension of passenger uplift from South Africa ( JNB, DUR & CPT) to Dubai has been further extended up to & including 30th June 2021. Daily Passenger services to JNB only will continue as per below. EK763 DXB 09h55 – JNB 16h15 ( local time ) (passengers & cargo) EK764 JNB 19h10 ( local time ) – DXB 05h25 +1 (cargo only) *** Please note passengers who have been to or connected through South Africa in the last 14 days are not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE ***

The government of Saudi Arabia has from 17 May lifted a 'ban' on citizens travelling out of the Gulf state without prior permission from authorities. Saudi nationals who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose a minimum of two weeks prior to travel, those who have recovered from COVID-19 within the last six months, and those under 18 will be allowed to travel for the first time since March 2020.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) airlines Etihad Airways and flydubai have announced the cancellation of flights to Israel's Tel Aviv, joining others making similar decisions due to escalating hostilities in the region; Abu Dhabi's Etihad has suspended all passenger and cargo services to Tel Aviv from 16 May, while flydubai has also cancelled flights from Dubai on 16 May, although other services are currently scheduled for the following week.

The Abu Dhabi-based low-cost airline has announced that it will open a new base in Rome, offering 32 new flight services to 19 countries; Wizz Air have said this is the biggest number of routes ever announced at one time, and four Airbus A321neo aircraft will be based at Rome Fiumicino airport in July to facilitate. The new services, which include two UK routes from Rome to London Luton and Liverpool John Lennon, will complement the 25 routes already operating from Rome Fiumicino and Rome Ciampino airports.

A number of U.S. airlines including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have canceled flights between the U.S. and Israel's capital of Tel Aviv, according to data from online flight trackers; the cancellations have been made in response to escalating conflict in the region. Passengers should check their flight status carefully prior to travelling to the airport.

The middle-eastern airline has said that from 12 May, passengers flying from its Abu Dhabi hub will be able to validate their COVID-19 travel documents before arriving at the airport; to use the service, passengers can sign-up by visiting 'Manage my Booking' online and will receive further information on how to submit their documents. Once the submission has been checked, they will then receive a ‘success’ email if their documents meet government requirements.

The government of Saudi Arabia has announced the implementation of new procedures from 20 May for the entry of all non-Saudi citizens and exempted passengers to the Kingdom, from countries from which entry is not suspended; passengers are to undergo seven days of mandatory institutional COVID-19 quarantine, with a swab test carried on the sixth day.