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The country's government has extended a 'ban' due to come into force on 7 May to last indefinitely until further notice; the restriction prevents entry to Oman for passengers coming from Sudan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, the UK, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It also includes those coming from any third country, if they passed through any of the named countries during the 14 days prior to arrival in Oman.

The government of Abu Dhabi has revised the rules regarding mandatory COVID-19 testing and home quarantine requirements for vaccinated arrivals who are either United Arab Emirates (UAE) citizens or residents of the emirate; effective from 3 May, COVID-19 vaccinated passengers arriving from ‘green list’ countries must take a PCR test on arrival and on day six, without the need to quarantine. Vaccinated passengers arriving from other countries must take a PCR test on arrival, then quarantine for five days, and take another PCR test on day four of their arrival to the UAE.

The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that from today, 3 May, COVID-19 vaccinated passengers from countries designated as 'green' will not be required to quarantine on arrival; these passengers must however take a PCR test once on arrival, and again on day six of their stay. Vaccinated travellers arriving from other countries not classified as 'green' must take a PCR test on arrival, quarantine for five days, and take another PCR test on day four of their stay. Non-vaccinated travellers must take a PCR test on arrival, quarantine for 10 days and take another PCR test on day eight.

The airline's resumption of four weekly U.S. flights to Atlanta from 31 May marks the full return of the Qatar Airways' pre-pandemic U.S. network. The carrier now offers 12 destinations within the country, which is two more than it operated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline will also be increasing frequencies to Boston, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle offering more flexible travel options for its passengers, with more than 85 weekly flights across the U.S.

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 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 government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that it has suspended passenger flights from India effective 25 April for the 10 days; furthermore, passengers who have transited through India in the last 14 days will not be accepted to travel from any other point to the UAE. The measure has been taken in response to sharp rises in COVID-19 cases and variants within India.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume four weekly services to Mexico City via Barcelona from 2 July; the route will be operated with a two-class Emirates Boeing 777-200LR aircraft which offers 38 business class seats in a two-two-two configuration and 264 seats in economy. Emirates flight EK255 will depart Dubai at 03.25, arriving in Barcelona at 08.35, before departing again at 10.50 and arriving into Mexico City at 16.05 the same day (all local times).

The Dubai-based airline has confirmed that the suspension of inbound flights from South Africa (Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town) to Dubai has been further extended up to & including 30 May; up until this date only daily passenger services outbound from Dubai to Johannesburg will continue.

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 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 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 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.

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 Dubai-based airline has announced that, in line with Bangladesh government directives, passenger flights to and from Bangladesh are to be suspended with effect from 14 April 2021 until 20 April 2021; customers travelling to and from Dhaka will not be accepted for travel. The last flight Emirates will operate before the temporary suspension of services is EK585 that is scheduled to depart from Dhaka at 01.40 (local time) on 14 April.

The country's government has announced that it will open its borders to COVID-19 vaccinated tour groups from 23 May; Israel has been closed to tourism since the start of the pandemic, and this announcement is part of an initiative to begin re-opening to travellers under a phased approach. Individual travellers will be welcomed in a later phase, likely to be in July, but is still to be determined. Visitors must undergo a COVID-19 PCR test before boarding their flight to Israel, and upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport must also undergo a serological test to prove their vaccination status.

The Dubai-based airline has further extended its suspension of inbound passenger flights from South Africa to 22 April; the UAE flag-carrier initially hoped to lift the ban on 8 April and later pushed back its return date to 15 April. This is in line with UAE government directives that restrict the entry of travellers originating from South Africa.

The airline has announced what it calls a major step forward towards the introduction of digital health passes by partnering with IATA Travel Pass and TrustAssure to launch two separate, complementary trials. From 16 April, Virgin Atlantic will commence a one-month trial of the IATA Travel Pass on its popular London Heathrow-Barbados services, in close collaboration with the government of the Caribbean island, which will accept the pass at its border.

The middle-eastern airline has announced that it is resuming its service to Mykonos, Greece for the summer season - as the destination welcomes visitors once again. Qatar Airways is planning to operate three flights per week using an A320 aircraft.