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The U.S. airline has announced nine additional seasonal U.S. routes to be launched this summer, as it prepares for what it anticipates to be a recovery in leisure travel. The new routes are scheduled to begin from a number of dates throughout May 2021 and include services from New York JFK to Bozeman (Montana); from Boston to Hilton Head (S.C), Traverse City (Michigan) and Bangor (Maine); from Atlanta to Bangor (Maine); from Seattle to Glacier Park (Montana), Fresno (California) and Reno (Nevada); finally, from Detroit to Bozeman (Montana).

The country's government has confirmed that its COVID-19 'lockdown' measures will be extended by another month until at least 18 April, in addition to a number of new restrictions being imposed; the amendment has been made in an effort to curb a surge of COVID-19 infections thought to be driven by new variants of the virus. Amid concern over the rise in Germans traveling abroad on holidays, authorities also agreed on a blanket requirement for air travellers to be tested for COVID-19 before boarding a flight to Germany.

Effective Monday 22 March, one-way quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Queensland will resume from Auckland-Brisbane, with the first quarantine-free flight departing today.

Royal Caribbean International has announced that it will resume cruising in North America from 12 June in the Bahamas; the cruise line will offer seven-day sailings from Nassau on the Adventure of the Seas that will spend two days at its private Bahamian island, Perfect Day at CocoCay, and call at Grand Bahama Island and Cozumel, Mexico. It will only allow fully COVID-19-vaccinated adults to cruise, while passengers under the age of 18 can sail with negative PCR test results. The ship's entire crew will also be vaccinated.

Low-cost airline easyJet has announced the upcoming introduction of two new domestic flight routes from Bournemouth to Belfast and Edinburgh, which are on sale now. The flights to and from the popular seaside town of Bournemouth will operate up to twice per week to Belfast from 26 May, and to Edinburgh from 27 May.

The country's prime minister has announced that 16 regions of France, including Paris, have entered into a new COVID-19 'lockdown'. The measures will be in place for at least four weeks and will be less restrictive than those previously imposed last March and November. Among other restrictions, during this time outdoor activities will be permitted to go ahead only within a 10km radius of a person's home; non-essential shops, not including book shops, will be required to close.

The government of Germany has announced an extension of controls along its borders to the Czech Republic and Austria’s Tyrol region, in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19 mutations. Previously, the controls were reinstated on 14 February, following the introduction of a stricter lockdown in the Czech Republic.

Abu Dhabi Airports has launched rapid, free COVID-19 PCR testing for all arrivals, alongside partners Pure Health and Tamouh Healthcare. Passengers will not be allowed to leave the airport until the test has been completed – with authorities hoping to provide results in around 90 mins. A new laboratory has the capacity to test more than 20,000 travellers and staff per day.

A new Norway-based airline has announced that it will launch from December 2021 and attempt to fill the low-cost transatlantic void left by Norwegian Air, who suspended their transatlantic services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Norse Atlantic Airways plans to fly Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft between European destinations such as London, Paris and Oslo and U.S. destinations such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami; tickets are due to go on sale in the Autumn.

The country's government has announced from 18 March it has re-opened its borders to COVID-19 vaccinated passengers from all countries, allowing entry without quarantine or testing required. This new relaxation of measures also applies to passengers who can provide valid documentation of prior infection. Passengers can provide evidence of vaccination or previous recovery either in paper or digital format.

The cruise line has announced that it will resume limited operations in May 2021, with three sailings along the south coast of England, available exclusively to UK residents. Viking will offer the eight-day itinerary, 'England's Scenic Shores', on its newest ocean ship, the Viking Venus, due for delivery in April. The ship will sail a roundtrip from Portsmouth on 22 May, 29 May and 5 June.

The country's prime minister has announced that all charter and passenger flights will be suspended between Papua New Guinea and Australia, as medical professionals warn COVID-19 cases are increasing in the country; the suspension starts from 23.59 (local time) on 17 March.

The national airline of Latvia has announced that it will resume flights from Riga to the Ukrainian city of Kyiv on 17 March for those passengers that are due to travel for essential reasons; airBaltic will also resume further flights outside of the European Union from 28 March.

The UK’s Department of Transport has announced a number of changes to be made to England’s ‘red list’ from 04.00 (GMT) on Friday 19 March 2021. From this date, visitors who have departed from or transited through Ethiopia, Somalia, Oman and Qatar 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. It has also been announced however that Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) and Mauritius will be removed from England’s red list from 04.00 (GMT) on Friday 19 March. This means that passengers arriving to England from these destinations will no longer be required to quarantine in a government-approved facility; however, they must adhere to self-isolation requirements at home and undergo COVID-19 testing on days two and eight.

The low-cost airline has announced that it will begin services on three new flight routes, as well as additional services on a further five routes, between the UK and Greece from 1 July. Ryanair will offer two flights per week from Preveza to London Stansted, while there will also be two trips a week from London Stansted to Zakynthos and Santorini. At the same time, an additional flight will be added from Corfu to Manchester, Southend and East Midlands Airport, taking the total to three per week. Finally, a third flight will be offered from Birmingham to Corfu and from London Stansted to Rhodes each week.

The Kazakh airline has announced that it will resume direct flights between Almaty and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on 16 March. Services will be operating three times per week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Flight-time between Almaty and Tbilisi is four hours and 15 minutes, and three hours and 40 mins on return from Tbilisi to Almaty.

The country's government has announced that shops, restaurants and schools will be closed across most of Italy from 15 March, following warnings of a 'new wave' of the COVID-19 outbreak. For three days over Easter from 3-5 April 2021, there will also be a total shutdown whereby residents will be required to stay at home except for work, health or other essential reasons.

The low-cost airline has announced the launch of a COVID-19 travel 'wallet', which is available for customers within the Ryanair mobile app; passengers can now upload their negative COVID-19 PCR tests, their COVID-19 vaccination certificates and other documents that may be required for EU travel this summer.

The country's government has announced further restrictions to be placed upon airlines and international arrivals; a limit of no more than 100 passengers per flight for international airlines will now be enforced. The change is to ensure sufficient quarantine facilities for inbound travellers. Due to the emergence of COVID-19 variants, all passengers must spend the first three days of quarantine at a government facility, before proceeding to undertake the remainder of the two-week quarantine in a hotel or other booked accommodation.

The country's government has announced that from midday today, 12 March, the city of Auckland will join the rest of the country at COVID-19 alert level 'one'.