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The U.S. airline has announced that it has extended 'Global Services' status for its current members through to 31 January 2022. United had previously also extended 'MileagePlus' status for members at the Premier 1K level and below through to the same date.

The airline has announced the resumption of services to Nairobi, Kenya with 14 weekly flights and to Kigali, Rwanda with three weekly flights. With the addition of Kigali and Nairobi, the airline now operates 33 weekly flights to eight destinations in Africa including Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Tunis.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that from 16 August it will operate five flights per week to Toronto Pearson International Airport on its flagship Airbus A380; this will take the total number of cities served by Emirates' flagship aircraft to six.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that its passenger flight network will now grow to 70 destinations with the inclusion of Kuwait City from 5 August and Lisbon from 16 August. This will account for over 50% of Emirates' pre-pandemic destination network, as the airline gradually resumes operations with the safety of its customers, crew and communities as its top priority.

The airline has continued their restructuring process after having previously secured a £1.2bn recapitalisation deal to secure their future post-COVID-19. This process yesterday, 4 August, involved attending court hearings in both the UK and U.S. as a formality; during the U.S. hearing a Chapter 15 process was filed, which is a mechanism to allow the airline to continue proceedings in the UK despite their multi-national assets. It should be noted that this is not a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, and restructuring is continuing as planned.

U.S. based line Crystal Cruises have taken the decision to cancel the remainder of their 2020 sailings, citing the uncertainty of the global COVID-19 pandemic; this includes all ocean cruises on the Crystal Symphony, Crystal Serenity and Crystal Esprit. The operator recently launched health and safety protocols and procedures, Crystal Clean+ 2.0, for when services eventually resume.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume flights to Nairobi (from 2 August), Baghdad and Basra (from 10 August), expanding its growing network. The move will take the airline’s passenger network to 67 destinations in August, including seven points in Africa and five points in the Middle East. Flights between Nairobi-Dubai and Basra-Dubai will operate three times a week while flights between Baghdad and Dubai will operate four times a week.

The City Lodge Hotel Group (CLHG) has been working hard behind the scenes to strip out single-use plastic from guest bedrooms. In a bold move, the group, together with its South African supplier The Bespoke Amenities Company (TBAC), is launching an all-new range of bathroom amenities, including a Zero Bar. These will be available across all five hotel brands - Fairview Hotel (Kenya), Courtyard Hotel, City Lodge Hotel, Town Lodge and Road Lodge - in what is a first for a South African hotel group, and among the first in the world.

The government of South Africa has announced that it will shortly ease COVID-19 restrictions to allow citizens to travel for the purposes of tourism within their own province. Accommodation providers will be permitted to operate with limits of two people, or one family, per room; short-term rental providers such as Airbnb however will remain suspended. Guided tours in open safari vehicles will now be permitted, but must include provision for both social distancing and maximum ventilation. The changes will come into effect as soon as the new regulations are gazetted by the country's government.

The country has announced that it is re-opening its borders to visitors from select countries on 5 August; emerging from one of the strictest lockdowns in the Middle East, Jordan's borders and international airports have been closed since March. Similar to other destinations, the country is using a traffic light system of green, yellow and red to indicate which visitors will be able to enter the country without having to quarantine.

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 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.

From 27 July, Qatar Airways have moved all operations at London Heathrow from Terminal 2 to Terminal 5. This is a temporary measure in response to runway management by the airport during a period of significantly fewer flights, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From 1 August all passengers travelling to the United Arab Emirates from any destination, including those transiting in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test result from a qualifying facility in order to be accepted on the flight at check-in. The test must be taken within 96 hours of departure, and only passengers under the age of 12 or those who have a moderate to severe disability will be excluded from this requirement. In addition to this, also from 1 August, passengers from 29 selected countries must also be subject to a second test on arrival via a nasal swab.

The Dubai-based airline has released further information following the announcement that, from 1 August, all passengers flying to or via Dubai International Airport must hold a valid, negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken less than 96 hours prior to departure in order to be accepted for their flight at check-in. If a UAE-endorsed testing facility is available in the passenger's country of origin, they must obtain the test result from that facility accordingly; if an approved facility is not listed, any registered practitioner able to provide PCR testing will be accepted.

Rwanda's flag-carrying airline RwandAir will resume commercial passenger services from 1 August; flights will restart with select African routes where travel restrictions have been eased and borders have re-opened. Flights to the long-haul destination of Dubai will also recommence with a thrice-weekly service, and more destinations will gradually be added to the network as countries continue to lift restrictions.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has released further information following the announcement that, from 1 August, all passengers flying to or via Abu Dhabi International Airport must hold a valid, negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken less than 96 hours prior to departure in order to be accepted for their flight at check-in. If an airline-endorsed 'Pure Health' testing facility is available in the passenger's country of origin, they must obtain the test result from that facility accordingly; a database of all eligible facilities, searchable by destination, is available on the airline website.

The Portuguese airline has announced that by September they will resume flights to more than 76 routes across destinations in Europe, North America, South America, and Africa. Until 31 August new bookings can also made on a flexible basis with a free booking change.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will cover medical expenses of up to EUR 150,000 and quarantine costs of EUR 100 per day for 14 days, should passengers diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel, while they are away from home. This cover is to be provided free of cost to all passengers and is is immediately effective for customers flying with Emirates until 31 October 2020; it is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey.

The airline have posted an advisory and reminder regarding COVID-19 PCR testing; if Etihad's hub of Abu Dhabi is a passenger’s final destination, they must have a negative test result issued by an ICA-approved medical facility within 72 hours prior to departure, available to present at check-in for their flight at the destination of origin.