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The middle-eastern airline has announced that it will resume flights from it's hub in Abu Dhabi to Doha in Qatar, starting from 15 February; the service will operate daily using an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

The country's government announced today, 21 January, that it will extend a 24-hour lockdown imposed earlier this month by two weeks, to combat a continued rise in COVID-19 infections. The tight restrictions on movement across the country, which had been due to run until 25 January, will stay in place until at least 8 February.

The airline has launched a bid to vaccinate all of its UAE-based workforce against COVID-19, in a move that hopes to increase passenger confidence in flying with Emirates. The inoculation drive has already started, with priority being placed on its frontline aviation workforce, including cabin crew, flight deck and other operationally focused roles.

The airline has partnered with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in order to launch a 'Travel Pass' for passengers; the mobile app is designed to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with government requirements for COVID-19 tests or vaccines. The mobile app will initially be offered to Etihad’s passengers on selected flights from Abu Dhabi in the first quarter of 2021 - if successful, it will be extended to other destinations on the airline's network.

The airline has launched a bid to vaccinate all of its crew against COVID-19, in a move that hopes to increase passenger confidence in flying with Singapore Airlines. Mirroring a similar scheme at Dubai-based airline Emirates, Singapore Airlines hope to offer the vaccine to pilots, gate agents, flight attendants and anyone whose job requires contact with the public.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has announced that from 12 February it will begin to offer flights to Tel Aviv, Israel. The airline recently confirmed Athens as its inaugural destination, with flights from Abu Dhabi International Airport commencing from 15 January. This will also be followed by flights to Thessaloniki, starting on 4 February.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will be suspending all flights to and from the Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane until further notice due to unspecified operational reasons. Each route will operate its final outbound and inbound flight from Dubai between 16-20 January, and then will remain suspended until further notice. The airline will, however, continue to operate a twice-weekly service to the Australian city of Perth.

The low-cost airline has announced an updated flight schedule plan for 2021 which will focus on a dedicated short-haul route network and suspend long-haul flight operations, as it plans a return from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the industry. Norwegian has said that it will focus on its core Nordics business, operating a European short haul network with narrow body aircraft.

The airline has announced that flights to and from South Africa will temporarily be suspended from 16 January to 28 January 2021 due to operational reasons. The last flights to the three South African gateways will be on 14 January. Customers holding tickets with final destinations in South Africa from 16 January to 28 January will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin. Affected customers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options.

The country's government has announced that foreign tourists are no longer required to undergo mandatory COVID-19 quarantine upon arrival to Jordan from 13 January. When entering the country however, non-national visitors must present the results of a PCR test for COVID-19, made no later than 72 hours before departure. At the airport, passengers need to undergo repeated tests. If the test is positive, then the tourist will have to be in self-isolation, and then take the test again.

The country's government announced yesterday, 11 January, that it will tighten it's COVID-19 lockdown measures in the coming days to combat whelming curbs in recent infections. From 14 January a new 24 hour curfew will be in place until 05.00 (local time) on 25 January. The new measures also include stricter procedures at the airport for passengers arriving from Cairo, Addis Ababa, Baghdad, Istanbul and Adana; those arriving from these destinations will have to quarantine for seven days at a hotel, while all others will quarantine for up to 72 hours.

The UK government has announced that as of 04.00 (GMT) on Tuesday 12 January, anyone arriving or returning to England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, as the country will be removed from the list of nations that are exempt from self-isolation requirements. This includes all emirates of the UAE; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al-Quwain, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Scotland has announced that as of 04.00 (GMT) today, Monday 11 January, anyone arriving or returning to Scotland from Dubai will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, as the region has been removed from the list of those that are exempt from self-isolation requirements. Those passengers that have travelled back to Scotland from Dubai since 3 January 2021 are also being asked to isolate for 10 days, from the date they arrived back in the country. Other destinations in the UAE currently remain exempt from self-isolation requirements for arrival in Scotland, and arrivals to England from Dubai remain exempt from self-isolation requirements at this time also.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume non-stop flights to the U.S. city of Seattle from 1 February, as well as Dallas and San Francisco from 2 March. The addition of these three destinations will take Emirates’ North American network to 10 destinations following the resumption of services to Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Toronto and Washington DC.

The UK government has announced that entry into England will be banned to those who have travelled from or through any southern African country in the last 10 days including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique and Angola – as well as Seychelles and Mauritius. This does not include British and Irish Nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who will be able to enter but are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival along with their household. The government has therefore also removed Botswana, Seychelles and Mauritius from the travel corridor list, with the changes coming into place from 04.00 (local time) on Saturday 9 January 2021. The measures will be in place for an initial period of 2 weeks before being reviewed. The country's government has also removed Israel (and Jerusalem) from the 'travel corridor' list.

The country's government has announced that Saudi Arabia is to lift its travel ban and begin re-opening for tourism on 31 March. Currently, in accordance with restrictions in force as of 8 January, only non-Saudis who hold valid exit and entry, work, or residency visas are permitted to enter; travelers with tourist visas are barred from entry. Non-Saudis arriving from the UK, South Africa, India, Brazil, Argentina, and other countries where the new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been detected must currently remain outside of these countries for 14 days before entering Saudi Arabia. Saudi nationals are currently permitted to enter the kingdom from countries where the new variant has been found but must quarantine for 14 days and submit to two COVID-19 tests.

The middle-eastern airline has increased its São Paulo services to ten weekly flights and also expanded a partnership with LATAM Airlines Brasil, allowing their passengers to book travel on 45 additional LATAM Airlines Brasil flights and have access to over 40 domestic and international destinations on the South American carrier’s network. This includes Brasilia, Curitiba, Porto Velho, Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro, São José, Lima (Peru), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Santiago (Chile).

The Australian airline has said that it has started taking bookings for international flights from 1 July; Qantas had previously said that it did not expect to fly internationally until much later in the year. Ticket sales for Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, which had been set to start in March, have been pushed back to July, while other destinations like London have been brought forward from October. New Zealand is the only overseas destination to which Qantas is currently flying.

The middle-eastern airline has announced that it will bring forward the launch of four weekly flights to Seattle on its Boeing 777 aircraft to the new date of 29 January. The move will mean that the airline's U.S. network will grow to 11 gateways, surpassing the number of destinations they operated in the country pre-COVID-19.

The airline has announced that it will resume the operation of five weekly flights to Dubai from 11 January; the flights to and from Dubai will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday each week. The national carrier of the sultanate of Oman has said that it will maintain its comprehensive safety program throughout all elements of the journey to ensure that passengers fly confidently.