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China's government announced on 30 July that restrictions are now to be imposed on people coming in and out of Urumqi, the capital of China’s western Xinjiang region, in an effort contain a localised COVID-19 outbreak. Among other measures, Urumqi will mandate a 14-day quarantine for people arriving in the city from high-risk COVID-19 areas; others entering the city will need to show proof of a negative test within the past seven days.

The government of Japan have said that the U.S. island state of Hawaii has been included in a preliminary list of countries and regions that Japan is considering as part of a safe travel initiative; the program would require pre-travel COVID-19 testing and medical evaluation of returning passengers. The program includes a dozen countries and regions under consideration by Japanese officials including China, South Korea, Myanmar, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and several European countries.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that from 1 August they will resume six weekly flights to Clark in the Philippines. This will boost the airline’s global network to 68 destinations in August across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa.

Virgin Atlantic have announced further route resumptions in August, after successfully re-starting flights to destinations including Hong Kong, New York JFK and Los Angeles in the second half of July. From 1 August services will resume to Barbados; this is followed by flights to Shanghai returning on 4 August. Finally, Virgin's Miami route will be operational from 18 August.

The country's government has suspended all commercial flights to and from the central city of Da Nang for 15 days from today, 28 July. The suspension follows the previous decision to evacuate 80,000 people from the region via a series of special charter flights, following a small number of COVID-19 infections being confirmed there in the last few days.

Hong Kong has today announced further restrictions to curb the surge of COVID-19, including a total ban on restaurant dining and a face mask requirement outdoors. The new rules will take effect from 29 July; this will be the first time the city has completely banned dining in restaurants.

The Vietnamese government announced today, 27 July, that is is evacuating 80,000 people from the central tourism hotspot of Da Nang after three residents tested positive for COVID-19 over the past few days; the first community infections confirmed since April, these new cases have put the country on high alert. The evacuation, which involves mainly domestic tourists, will take at least four days and will rely on domestic airlines operating approximately 100 flights daily from Da Nang to 11 other Vietnamese cities.

The river cruise line, headquartered in China's Chongqing, has announced that it will resume multi-day cruise programs on the country's Yangtze and Jialing rivers in August, around eight months after the COVID-19 pandemic started. Initially, river cruise lines will be restricted to 50% passenger capacity, and sailings are open to domestic travellers only.

Indian airline SpiceJet on announced on 24 July that it has been designated as the “Indian scheduled carrier,” permitting it to operate flights to the United States. The airline will be the first Indian budget carrier to operate services to the US; national carrier Air India is currently the only other Indian airline doing so, since all international commercial passenger flights were suspended on 22 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's government has announced today, 22 July, that Thailand will extend a state of emergency until the end of August, maintaining the security measures put in place to contain its COVID-19 outbreak. The country will however begin allowing the entry of business executives for trade shows, migrant labourers, film makers and medical tourists. All foreign arrivals will be subject to a 14-day quarantine.

From 25 July all travellers entering Hong Kong from high-risk destinations will be permitted to quarantine within a hotel, provided that they can show evidence of booked accommodation for at least 14 days from the date of arrival. They will also though be required to provide a letter, certified by a laboratory or health institution, verifying that they have undergone and received a negative test result for COVID-19 no more than 72 hours prior to their departure. Currently, the list of high-risk countries includes Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Africa.

China's aviation ministry announced on 21 July that passengers on flights arriving to the Chinese mainland must provide negative COVID-19 test results before boarding. Nucleic acid tests must be completed within five days of departure, at facilities designated or recognised by Chinese embassies in host countries.

The government of India has agreed to allow U.S. airlines to resume passenger services to the country starting from 23 July. India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Twitter it was moving to further expand international civil aviation operations with arrangements for flights with the U.S., United Arab Emirates, France & Germany.

Express COVID-19 testing has been made available on a trial basis today, 20 July, for some passengers at Russia’s busiest airport, Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. The trial is part of a pilot project aimed at allowing air travel and tourism to resume safely. Following the trial and pending any problems, the express testing will be available from 27 July for domestic and international flights at Sheremetyevo’s Terminal D.

The Royal Caribbean group has announced the decision to extend the suspension of cruise sailings for passengers due to depart on or before 30 September. Included among the group’s brands are Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea.

As of 10.00 (GMT+8) on 17 July, mainland China is now requiring those arriving from Hong Kong to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within the previous three days, as well as being subject to 14 days of supervised quarantine in order to gain entry.

The government of the Philippines has announced that it will allow the entry of foreign nationals with long-term visas into the country from 1 August. However, applications for new entry visas will not yet be accepted and returning Filipinos will have priority on inbound flights, given existing caps on airport capacity.

From 15 July, Russia has started to lift further restrictions on international flights with some countries. All foreign arrivals are now asked to provide a medical certificate to prove they have either tested negative for COVID-19 or tested positive for COVID-19-related antibodies. Arriving passengers are also no longer required to quarantine unless they are experiencing symptoms.

Following the partial lifting of international flight restrictions by the United Arab Emirates and India, Etihad Airways will resume a limited number of special flights to six Indian gateways. The airline will operate services from Abu Dhabi to Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Mumbai.

The border between Singapore and Malaysia, hailed as one of the busiest in the world, is set to re-open from 10 August under a 'green-lane' agreement for business travel; it will be the first time that regular cross-border business traffic has resumed since its closure in March.