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“The German government has decided on Friday, January 29, further restrictions on travel. The airlines of the Lufthansa Group will implement these new entry regulations for flights to Germany accordingly. These will apply for the period effective January 30 until February 17, 2021, for passengers traveling from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil and Portugal to Germany. Under the new order from German authorities, Lufthansa Group may only carry passengers with German citizenship or permanent residence permits to Germany. In addition, connecting passengers may likewise continue to use these flights, provided they do not enter Germany and continue to a non-Schengen country. All passengers must present a negative Corona test prior to departure. This valid PCR, antigen or LAMP tests must all comply with guidelines of the German Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and they must not be older than 48 hours when entering Germany. Lufthansa intends to continue offering flights to the countries mentioned. The airline is closely monitoring the current situation and adjusts its flight schedules as necessary.”

Qatar Airlines have temporarily suspended acceptance of new bookings from South Africa to the UK until further notice

Emirates’ flights to South Africa will remain suspended until 12th February 2021, in line with recent government directives.

Middle-eastern airlines Emirates and Etihad have announced the immediate suspension of UK flights from 13.00 (GMT) today, 29 January; the measures have been taken in response to an update from the UK government in which it added the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to its 'red list' of countries. This means that people who have been in or transited through the UAE (plus Burundi and Rwanda who were also added yesterday) will be denied entry to the UK, with the exception of UK and Irish nationals, and third country nationals with residence in the UK. Emirates announced it would suspend all U.K. passenger flights from 1300 (GMT) today, when the UK measures take effect. Etihad said it would only suspend flights arriving in the UK, with those departing remaining unaffected.

The country's government has announced a closure of its borders to foreign travellers who do not have Norwegian citizenship or residency, with limited exemptions. All travellers to Norway (including citizens) must also now register no more than 72 hours prior their arrival, and arrivals from countries designated as 'high-risk' for COVID-19 must also undergo testing upon arrival. Additional restrictions apply to travellers arriving from the UK, South Africa, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Brazil. Eligible passengers travelling from a high-risk country must also present proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken within 24 hours before arrival. Norwegian residents are exempt from this requirement.

British Airways has cancelled additional flights from Johannesburg to Heathrow up until *16 April 2021 inclusive and from Cape Town to Heathrow up until *16 April 2021 inclusive (*subject to change).

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that direct flights to and from the UK have been temporarily suspended as of today, 29 January, following the UK's decision to add the country to it's travel 'red list' from which non-UK and Irish nationals, or passengers of other nationalities without UK residence, are banned from entering. The suspension comes into effect from 13.00 (GMT), and passengers booked for travel on flights due to arrive in the UK after this time should not go to Dubai International Airport, but instead contact their airline for more information.

The country's government has said today that it may be set to resume regular international air travel, under a package of fresh relaxations in COVID-19 measures announced today, 28 January, which will go into effect from 1 February. India suspended all incoming and outgoing international flights, as well as domestic air travel, in the last week March 2020. International flights to and from India have since been resumed in a phased manner with about two dozen countries under bilateral 'air bubble' agreements. Meanwhile, the country has also fully resumed domestic air services.

Lufthansa and SWISS are partnering with Airlin, to offer customers access to over 25 domestic destinations in South Africa. The interline agreement allows customers the convenience of purchasing a single ticket to or from a multitude of destinations in Southern Africa. The Lufthansa Group is pleased to offer customers, even more, travel convenience through this partnership.

The airline has announced a new requirement for passengers arriving into its hub airport in Dubai from 31 January from any point of origin; all passengers must hold a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate, for which a negative result must have been obtained from a test taken a maximum of 72 hours prior to departure. Nationals of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are exempt, but must still take a COVID-19 PCR test on arrival at Dubai International Airport. Passengers transiting through Dubai must also continue to ensure that they comply with the entry requirements of their respective destination country.

Middle-eastern airline Qatar Airways has announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with low-cost South African carrier Mango Airlines; the move will allow greater connectivity for regional travel throughout South Africa, for passengers travelling to or from the middle east, in addition to those travelling onto destinations in Qatar's global network via its hub in Doha.

The country's government has yesterday, 26 January, announced a temporary suspension of all international flights which have originated from, or passed through, the countries of the UK, Ireland and South Africa. The Brazilian authorities have also suspended boarding permits for persons who have arrived from the UK and South Africa or were there in transit in the past 14 days. Failure to comply with the new rules will result in the deportation of the passenger to their country of origin.

The government of Ireland has announced a tightening of travel restrictions on passengers from South Africa and Brazil, including the suspension of visa-free travel. While South Africans can still travel to Ireland with immigration permission granted for work or study, arriving passengers will be subjected to strict COVID-19 testing and quarantine protocols. South African travellers will be required to supply a negative COVID-19 PCR test result within 72 hours of their departure; even with this proof, visitors will be required to stay in a designated quarantine facility for two weeks.

The country's government has announced that from 27 January, it will resume international passenger flights to and from Qatar, India, Vietnam and Finland - from which services were previously suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an official government release, the flights to Qatar will depart three times a week, and to India, Vietnam and Finland twice a week.

Dubai government-owned budget airline flydubai has announced that it is adding an additional four destinations to its European flight network, taking the total on the continent to 20. The upcoming routes, which will begin from May, are Catania and Naples in Italy, Salzburg in Austria and the island of Malta. This will take the total global destination list to 65 destinations worldwide.

The Dubai-based airline has confirmed that its flights to South Africa will remain suspended until at least 4 February, in line with recent directives from the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which restrict entry to passengers originating in South Africa. Passengers travelling from third country destinations and holding tickets with a final destination in South Africa will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin by Emirates; affected passengers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options.

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 country's government yesterday, 25 January, signed an order suspending entry to most non-U.S. citizens who have previously been in South Africa, which will be effective from 30 January. Also signed was an order extending an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travellers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe.

The middle-eastern airline has confirmed plans to continue to grow its African flight network to over 100 weekly flights to 23 destination cities. In addition to the current network, Qatar Airways has resumed services to a number of destinations, or is due to resume them by 1 February; these destinations include Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt; Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa; Tunis, Tunisia and Casablanca, Morocco.

The country's government has announced that it will suspend passenger flights in and out of Israel for one week from the evening of 25 January; the measure reportedly comes into force from 22.00 (GMT) and will last until at least the end of January. The move comes as, locally, clashes have broken out between ultra-Orthodox protesters in the city of Bnei Brak and police forces attempting to enforce current COVID-19 'lockdown' rules.