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Etihad Airways has announced that it will begin flying to Beijing from its base in Abu Dhabi from 7 December, on a weekly service operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline resumed services between Abu Dhabi and Shanghai in late July this year; with the second weekly flight soon to be added to Etihad’s global network, the airline becomes the only carrier in the MENA region operating non-stop passenger flights departing from both Shanghai and Beijing.

The Dubai-based airline re-launched its 'Dubai Connect' offer, which gives passengers transiting through its hub a complimentary hotel stay in Dubai. The offer is available to customers booked in all classes with a best connection time that exceeds 10 hours; passengers will receive a complimentary night’s stay in a 4 or 5-star hotel, ground transfers to and from the airport, meals at the hotel as well as a UAE visa on arrival where required.

The Dubai-based airline has today, 23 November, announced that it is extending its current COVID-19 cover with an expanded, multi-risk policy provided by AIG Travel; the cover will apply to all Emirates tickets from 1 December, including many codeshares services operated by other airline partners.

Following the UK government announcing granting a travel corridor to arriving or returning passengers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai-based airline Emirates has announced plans to increase its UK flight connections. Among them, it operate its A380 aircraft four times a day to London Heathrow from 27 November and six times a week to Manchester from 2 December. Flights to Birmingham and Glasgow will also be increased from the current four-a-week to daily services at both cities, from 27 November and 1 December respectively.

The middle-eastern airline has announced a finalised 'codeshare' agreement with Air Canada, for travel between Qatar's capital of Doha and the Canadian city of Toronto. The first flight will operate on 15 December and seats are now available for sale, offering a more seamless, one-stop connection between the two hubs.

The UK government has announced that from 04.00 (GMT) on Saturday 21 November, anyone arriving or returning from the following countries to England, Wales or Northern Ireland will NOT be required to self-isolate: Israel, Namibia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Bonaire, St Eustatius & Saba, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands. No countries were this week removed from the 'travel corridor' list.

The airline has announced that it will add twice-weekly services to the Indian cities of Chennai and Hyderabad from 19 November 19th, which will operate on Thursdays and Saturdays. The national carrier of the sultanate of Oman has also said that it will maintain its comprehensive safety program throughout all elements of the travel journey to ensure that guests fly confidently.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways has announced that it will launch a daily scheduled year-round flight to Tel Aviv in Israel from 28 March 2020. The launch of the flight follows the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two nations, on 15 September.

The country’s government is set to impose tougher COVID-19 restrictions from 21 November, and Iran enters its third wave of infections. The ‘red level three’ measures will be imposed in the capital Tehran, and 100 other towns and cities.

The UK government has added passengers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to its list of countries exempt from a 14-day arrival quarantine requirement in place to stop the spread of COVID-19. It means that, from 04.00 (GMT) today, 14 November, arrivals from the UAE will no longer have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival in the UK. Alongside the UAE, the UK also added the quarantine exemption for those arriving from Iceland, Chile, Laos, Cambodia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahrain and Qatar.

Qatar Airways has announced that it will both resume flights and increase services to several destinations in the coming weeks. The Middle Eastern airline will fly to Algiers twice a week from 13 November, with nine flights per week to Chicago to follow from 15 November. From 14 November, a twice-weekly service to Miami and 14 flights per week to New York will also resume. Next month, Kiev will welcome three flights a week from 18 December, two flights per week will depart for Phuket from 4 December, and three flights per week for Seychelles and Warsaw from 15 December and 16 December, respectively.

The country's government has announced that it will impose a two-week lockdown from 14 November to stem a resurgence of cases of COVID-19; the lockdown will continue until 29 November. The health sector and other vital industries will be exempt, and the country's only international airport will remain open during this time.

Air Arabia has introduced a mandatory online pre-registration requirement for Indian nationals travelling to India; it is mandatory for passengers to present a copy of the confirmation email received upon successful pre-registration, at the time of check-in. Passengers who fail to present it will not be accepted on the flight.

Emirates has launched an integrated biometric path at Dubai International airport for a contactless airport experience open to passengers travelling from and through Dubai. The path will give passengers a seamless travel journey from check-in to the boarding gates, improving customer flow through the airport with less document checks and less queuing. Utilising the latest biometric technology – a mix of facial and iris recognition, Emirates passengers can now check in for their flight, complete immigration formalities, enter the Emirates Lounge and board their flights, simply by passing through the airport.

The country’s government has confirmed that from today, 29 October, four land borders will be partially re-opened; Sheikh Hussein Bridge, Al Mudawwarah, King Hussein Bridge and Al Omari. There will be restrictions on the number of travellers permitted to cross each point daily - expected to be between 100-150.

The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has published an update to COVID-19 pre-testing requirements for passengers arriving in Dubai from a list of specific destinations, which can be found listed on the Emirates airline website. Passengers from affected destinations need to either present a valid negative COVID-19 (PCR) test result, or take a test upon arrival in Dubai. Individuals transiting Dubai from the specified destinations do not need to provide a COVID-19 PCR test result. unless it's required by the government of the final destination country.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will expand its current flight schedule utilising it's flagship Airbus A380 aircraft with the introduction of flights to Amman, Jordan from 4 November. Passengers can fly from Dubai to Amman three times a week on Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays. Emirates flight EK 903 will depart Dubai at 14:05 and arrive in Amman at 15:30 local time. The return flight, EK 904 will depart Amman at 17:10 and arrive in Dubai at 22:00 local time.

Dubai-based airline Emirates has announced a partnership with South African regional carrier Airlink; Emirates reports that the move will provide its customers enhanced connectivity via Johannesburg and Cape Town to more than 25 domestic destinations in South Africa and more than 20 regional destinations in Southern Africa.

The government of the UAE has confirmed that 'Ok to Board' pre-approval is no longer required for passengers travelling to Dubai from India or Pakistan. Any such approval process will now be managed and updated by airport teams directly at the time of check-in.

The government of South Africa has today, 19 October, issued a revised list of countries designated as 'high-risk' for the purposes of international travel. As a reminder, international travel for business and leisure purposes resumed on 1 October 2020 in South Africa with restrictions in place; travel is currently restricted from countries with infection rates deemed to be high, and travel for leisure purposes from 'high-risk' countries is not permitted. Only high skill visa holders, investors in the economy and diplomats are allowed entry into South Africa from 'high-risk' countries with the necessary approvals in place.