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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 Jamaica has said that it has 're-opened' its borders to UK-based passengers; the decision comes after flights to the Caribbean island were banned for several months in the wake of skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in Europe.

The country's government has announced that current COVID-19 'lockdown' measures including a night-time curfew will now remain in place until 18 May; the announcement followed the news of virus infections remaining high over the past week as hospitals struggle to cope with large numbers of patients. Previously, the country's government had said they were looking at easing restrictions on 28 April by lifting the curfew and allowing bars and restaurants to welcome guests in outdoor spaces.

The government of Portugal has confirmed that it is extending current COVID-19 flight restrictions that prevent non-essential travel from countries including Brazil with high incidence rates of the virus, and also has added India to the list due to the rapid rise in infections there. The curbs on air travel will now be enforced until at least 16 May.

The Turkish low-cost airline has announced the launch of a new international flight route from the UK's London Stansted Airport to Batumi in Georgia; the service will begin from 7 May and fly via Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport. On the same date Pegasus will also be launching a new domestic route, with flights three times per week from Istanbul to Iğdır.

The country's government has said that it will press ahead with plans to re-open all retail stores, personal services and non-residential construction in May, with hotels, restaurants and bars to follow sooner than expected in early June. The government committed a month ago to re-opening all shops for the first time this year in May and hotels in June if it could avoid a fourth wave of COVID-19 and speed up its vaccine programme - criteria that it has met. Under the plan, hotels will open their doors again on 2 June, with restaurants and pubs allowed to serve guests outdoors from 7 June.

The country's government has outlined a plan for the loosening of current COVID-19 restrictions to permit international tourists to enter France on 9 June, provided they hold a 'sanitary pass' with proof of a COVID-19 vaccine or a negative PCR test result. The news came as part of the outlining of a four-step plan to re-open the country and revive its economy.

The country's government said yesterday, 28 April, that it is considering plans to allow public events with up to 3,000 spectators from July, although such events would be restricted to attendees who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, can prove they've recovered from the illness or test negative. Elsewhere, Switzerland this month further eased other COVID-19 restrictions, allowing restaurants to re-open outdoor terraces and sports events to take place with much more limited audiences; cinemas and concert venues can also re-admit limited numbers of guests.

The Icelandic flag-carrier has announced that it is to offer 'Covid Plus' medical insurance to passengers, which it says will enable instant payouts to affected passengers and give greater peace of mind for current or future travel bookings.

The low-cost airline has said that it will introduce more flexible policies ahead of the 2021 summer travel season, in an effort to boost passenger confidence; passengers will be able to change their flights without a fee at any time up to two hours prior to departure. If a mandatory hotel quarantine impacts a destination, passengers can also now request a refund for their flight within four weeks prior to departure if the restriction is still in place, even if flights are still operating.

The low-cost airline has made an early release of the schedules for over 1,800 flights per week on 160 routes during summer 2022. The schedule includes destinations such as Faro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Marseille and Malta; cities such as Budapest, Copenhagen, Lisbon are Rome included.

The airline has announced four new short-haul routes to Wroclaw and Gdansk in Poland, Riga in Latvia and Cluj-Napoca in Romania; all are due to start from the beginning of July and operate throughout the summer season. All flights will be served from London Heathrow Airport, with those to Wroclaw operating twice per week, and those to Gdansk, Riga and Cluj-Napoca operating three times per week.

London Luton Airport has announced that in preparation for the expected restart of UK international travel from 17 May, it has opened a new in-terminal COVID-19 testing facility with its partner, Collinson. The expansion adds to the existing drive-through facility located in the mid-term car park, which launched in December. Across both facilities, the full range of UK government-approved COVID-19 test options will be on offer.

The Spanish low-cost airline has said that it's set to offer twice-weekly flights between the UK's Newcastle International Airport and Barcelona this summer; the services will operate to and from Barcelona-El Prat Airport on Wednesdays and Sundays between July and October.

The UK transport secretary has confirmed that an NHS mobile app will from 17 May be used to allow Britons to demonstrate whether they have had a COVID-19 vaccination, or tested negative for the virus, before travelling internationally; the country is hoping to re-open international borders to leisure travel from this date, with confirmation expected in the coming days. Officials are planning to launch a ‘traffic light’ system, with safe countries rated ‘green’, while travel to ‘red’ countries will be prohibited.

The country's finance minister has warned that Germany's government does not expect moves to be made to ease current COVID-19 restrictions until the end of May, following a further rise in COVID-19 infections in the past week, despite stricter measures. New laws passed by Germany's parliament last week also give the federal government more power to impose overnight curfews in areas where COVID-19 cases exceed 100 per 100,000 population on three consecutive days.

The government of Malta has announced that it has placed the UK on its 'amber' travel list, meaning that non-vaccinated travellers will not need to quarantine on arrival if they have a negative COVID-19 PCR test result; the test should be carried out within the previous 72 hours prior to boarding a plane to Malta.

The country's president has announced that people will be required to stay mostly at home under a nationwide 'full lockdown' beginning on 29 April and lasting until at least 17 May; the measures are being introduced in order to curb a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths. Among the restrictions will be the requirement for official approval for all inter-city travel, the closing of all schools, caps on public transport capacity, and permission to leave home to be limited to the reasons of essential shopping and urgent medical treatment only.

The national carrier of Belgium has said that it will start of resume flight services to 43 destinations throughout the spring and summer, including its first flights across the North Atlantic in more than a year; once added, the airline will serve a total of 79 destinations.

The country's tourism ministry has outlined plans for Spain to begin welcoming visitors from June, following a pilot trial of COVID-19 digital health certificates at all 46 Spanish airports in May. The nation's government has been reportedly planning for vaccine certification since February due to the importance of tourism to the Spanish economy.