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The U.S. airline has confirmed that the start of a new, direct flight route between South Africa's Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport and New York's Newark Liberty International Airport has been delayed until 3 June. It was previously due to start from March 2021 - however the decision to delay has been made in response to current demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline has unveiled updated capability on its mobile app, ahead of a new requirement from 26 January for passengers arriving in the U.S. to show either a negative COVID-19 test result from within 72 hours of departure, or proof that they have recovered from the virus within the previous 90 days. United Airlines passengers can now upload the required documentation directly to the app for verification prior to their airport arrival.

The government of the U.S. state of California is reportedly expected to lift its current, regional stay-at-home orders across the state from today, 25 January, instead opting to move individual counties back into a tier-based re-opening framework. Most regions across California are expected to move into the 'purple' tier, meaning personal care services like hair salons can re-open with modifications, and restaurants can open for outdoor service.

The middle-eastern airline has announced that from 1 June it will resume flights to Atlanta, which will be it's twelfth U.S. destination, with four weekly flights. Qatar Airways has also said that it will significantly increase flight frequencies, adding an additional total 13 weekly flights to its U.S. destinations, this operating a total of 83 weekly flights.

The country's new president yesterday, 21 January, signed an executive order requiring quarantines for individuals entering the U.S. - this is in addition to a raft of requirements including the wearing of masks for all interstate travel, and follows on from a previous announcement of the introduction of mandatory COVID-19 pre-testing for international arrivals from 26 January. The president did not specify how long people will be required to quarantine upon U.S. arrival; the executive order says only that the quarantine period will be in accord with CDC guidelines. On its website, the CDC recommends that in most cases individuals stay home for seven days after arriving from abroad.

The government of Canada yesterday, 20 January, announced a one month extension to a suspension on non-essential international travel to the country, stretching the restrictions until 21 February. Passengers eligible to enter Canada despite the suspension, which has been in force since March, must still quarantine for 14 days on arrival.

The brand has announced that from 26 January it will begin on-property COVID-19 antigen testing across the majority of its properties, with guests able to schedule an onsite departure test via their concierge. Tests will be administered by international private hospital network 'Hospiten', with results available the same day. The Hospiten testing program will be available across most AMResorts destinations, except for Costa Rica, Curacao, St. Martin and Acapulco, Ixtapa and Huatulco, Mexico. AMResorts' portfolio, located throughout Mexico, Jamaica, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama and Spain, includes 67 properties under the Breathless, Zoetry, Secrets, Dreams, Now, Reflect, Sunscape and Alua brands.

The low-cost airline has announced an updated flight schedule plan for 2021 which will focus on a dedicated short-haul route network and suspend long-haul flight operations, as it plans a return from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the industry. Norwegian has said that it will focus on its core Nordics business, operating a European short haul network with narrow body aircraft.

The airline has announced that it is planning to cut nearly a third of its flight capacity in February and March in light of stricter entry requirements announced by the government of Canada in recent weeks. The cuts include more than 230 weekly flights with 160 of them domestic; this includes 11 routes from Edmonton to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Phoenix as well as those from Vancouver to those same three cities as well as Cabo, Los Angeles and Palm Springs; and finally from Calgary to both Las Vegas and Orlando. The carrier also announced a seasonal suspension to 13 international destinations, largely in the Caribbean and Central America but also including London Gatwick.

The government of Canada has confirmed that the US-Canada land border closure has once again been extended for a tenth time, for at least another 30 days until 21 February. The extension means the land border will remain closed for all non-essential traffic, including US tourists wanting to enter Canada.

The country's government has confirmed that passengers arriving in the U.S.from international destinations will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flight, from 26 January; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the new policy today, 12 January. The CDC said travellers must get a viral test within three days before their flight to the U.S. A verifiable test result must be in the form of written documentation (paper or electronic copy) of a laboratory test result.

The airline has announced that it will add two new domestic U.S. routes in the coming months from airports in southern California; firstly, a daily non-stop service between Los Angeles and Austin, Texas will be launched on 18 March, increasing to three-times daily from 20 May. Additionally, a non-stop daily service between San Diego and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport will begin on 4 April.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume non-stop flights to the U.S. city of Seattle from 1 February, as well as Dallas and San Francisco from 2 March. The addition of these three destinations will take Emirates’ North American network to 10 destinations following the resumption of services to Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Toronto and Washington DC.

The middle-eastern airline has announced that it will bring forward the launch of four weekly flights to Seattle on its Boeing 777 aircraft to the new date of 29 January. The move will mean that the airline's U.S. network will grow to 11 gateways, surpassing the number of destinations they operated in the country pre-COVID-19.

The Australian airline has said that it has started taking bookings for international flights from 1 July; Qantas had previously said that it did not expect to fly internationally until much later in the year. Ticket sales for Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, which had been set to start in March, have been pushed back to July, while other destinations like London have been brought forward from October. New Zealand is the only overseas destination to which Qantas is currently flying.

The country’s government has suspended all inbound passenger flights from the UK from 23.59 (ET) on 20 December for 72 hours; this restriction has been introduced in response to the discovery of a new strain of COVID-19 within parts of the UK.

The airline has announced that from 28 March it will commence a non-stop daily service from South Africa's Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport to New York Newark Airport; the resumption of the route will also facilitate onward connections to multiple destinations across the Americas.

In a bid to boost confidence amongst business travellers and revive the brand’s events business, Marriott has announced that it will begin to roll-out pre-event COVID-19 testing from January, initially in U.S. properties in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Colorado. It is hoped that the scheme, which will include options ranging from 15-minute rapid testing to PCR tests, will then be able to roll out in all Marriott brands and properties who wish to participate.

Severe weather warnings are currently in place for 14 U.S. states in the north-east of the country, as a powerful snowstorm is due to sweep across them; parts of Pennsylvania and New York are predicted as much as two feet of snow. Reports suggest that up to 1500 flights, mainly domestic, have been cancelled so far - and so any passengers due to travel should pay close attention to their flight status.

The airline has announced that it is the latest carrier to provide free COVID-19 insurance cover for passengers who test positive for the virus while travelling. The policies are provided by Allianz Travel and cover medical costs relating to a positive diagnosis, as well as isolation and additional travel costs. The cover applies to all passengers on Japan Airlines (JAL) marketed and operated flights for travel between 23 December 2020 and 30 June 2021, and is valid for 31 days from the first leg of the journey.