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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.

South Africans and citizens of nine other African countries will be able to visit Seychelles as tourists from today, 19 October, according to the latest official Seychelles Travel tourism travel advisory published on 16 October. The list of category one countries has been updated to include Botswana, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Category one permitted countries are considered low and medium risk.

The airline has announced that it will launch two new routes from Manchester to New Delhi and Mumbai in an attempt to target the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market. Virgin will start flying three times per week from Manchester to Mumbai on 19 December with a twice-weekly route to Delhi due to follow on 5 January; the routes will likely fly Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft featuring economy, premium economy and upper class cabins.

The airline, along with partner carrier SilkAir, has published its latest schedule update for flights in October, November and December 2020. Among the updates are reinstated flights to destinations including Brunei, Fukuoka, Kathmandu and Male. The airlines have said that following these resumptions, by the end of December flight capacity will have reached 15% of pre-COVID-19 levels.

The two regions have announced today, 15 October, that they will establish a travel bubble to re-connect international travel between them; passengers will though require negative COVID-19 test results and will be required to travel on dedicated flights. The launch date is due to be announced in the coming weeks.

The government of India has said that it expects international flights to and from the country be fully operational by the first quarter of 2021, most recently extending a current international suspension until at least 31 October 2020. While domestic services have been allowed to resume, international passenger flights in and out of India have been suspended since 23 March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governments of the two countries have announced that, in a bid to kick start essential business travel between them, Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to open a travel corridor. The arrangements, known as the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL), will officially come into effect on 26 October. Travellers must use the green lane by air between Singapore Changi Airport and Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta, or by sea between Tanah Merah Terminal and Batam Centre Ferry Terminal. Indonesians travelling to Singapore must apply in advance for a Safe Travel Pass. All travellers in both directions must be sponsored by a business or government entity, and must have negative pre-departure and post-arrival COVID-19 swab tests.

The airline has announced that from 23 October, subject to government approval, it will begin one flight per week from Helsinki to Nanjing, China; the service is set to continue until at least 21 March 2021.

The country’s government is reportedly planning to remove a ban on overseas travel to China and 11 other countries from next month, according to a domestic newspaper source today, 8 October. The 11 other countries and regions may include Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia; however, unnecessary and non-urgent visits to these destinations would still not be encouraged.

Air India announced that it will start operating additional flights from New Delhi to Sydney with limited seats between 10-14 October, amid the Indian central government's 'Unlock 5' phase.

The government of Singapore has announced that it will open its borders to Australian citizens from 8 October, however will continue to exclude arrivals from the Australian state of Victoria from entering the country. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) released a statement on Wednesday saying that, from midday on Thursday (14.00 AEST), 1 October, Australian citizens could apply for an Air Travel Pass for entry to the country on or after 8 October. Applicants must have remained in Australia for the previous 14 days before entry and undergo a COVID-19 test upon arrival at Singapore's Changi Airport. Only after obtaining a negative result will they be allowed to freely roam Singapore.

The country's government is set to trial a return to tourism on the island of Phuket from 8 October, when a flight carrying around 120 people will fly directly into the region’s airport from Guangzhou, China. Visitors will be provided a long stay visa, be quarantined for 14 days, be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result and be tested a further two times during quarantine.

The Japanese airline yesterday, 28 September, released an updated flight schedule announcing that it will resume flights to Singapore and Bangkok in November, in addition to increasing frequency on other international routes; among them, twice-weekly services will fly from Tokyo Haneda to Sydney, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Manila in the Philippines. One flight per week will also operate from Tokyo Haneda to London.

The airline has said today that it will resume direct flights to China from the Nordic region from 29 September, following their suspension in January. Weekly flights from Copenhagen to Shanghai will operate initially, with flights to Beijing expected to resume by the end of October.

The government of China has said that from 28 September, foreigners holding visas and permits for work, personal matters and family reunions will be permitted to enter the country without the need to re-validate their visa; anyone with an expired visa will also now be able to re-apply.

The middle eastern airline is set to further increase its network in the coming month; among the highlights, in mid-October Qatar will resume flights to Seychelles and Windhoek, Namibia. The airline will also increase frequencies to Clark International Airport and Manila in the Philippines; Copenhagen, Denmark; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Madrid, Spain; Manchester, UK and Stockholm, Sweden.

The country's government has said that although restrictions are not yet set to change for those arriving for the purposes of tourism, from October the country will begin to allow some foreign visitors who are planning to stay for three months or more; this includes categories such as students and medical workers from any country; entry will be limited to 1,000 people per day.

The U.S. airline has announced that it will offer two new Indian routes, which will commence flying in the coming months. A daily flight between Chicago and New Delhi will operate from December; a flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru, which will be the first non-stop service between the U.S. and South India, will also operate from Spring 2021.

Visa applications for travel to Germany from India are now being accepted at some locations; among them, the German consulate in Bangalore is now accepting applications of 'D' category visas, and the German visa application centres in both Chennai and Hyderabad are also accepting additional 'D' and limited 'C' visa applications. As of September 2020, these applications can only be processed through Indian government partner VFS.

The airline, along with partner carrier SilkAir, has published its latest schedule update for flights in September, October and November 2020. Among the updates are reinstated flights to three destinations including Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Taipei, Taiwan. The airlines have said that following these resumptions, by the end of November flight capacity will have reached 11% of pre-COVID-19 levels.