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Australia’s national carrier has confirmed an order for 12 Airbus A350-1000s to conquer the final frontier of long-haul travel and enable non-stop flights to Australia from any city including New York and London from late 2025. Codenamed Project Sunrise for the airline’s long history of endurance flying, Qantas has also shared preliminary concepts for its A350 cabin of the future that will offer a new level of comfort for all passengers on these direct flights that will cut up to four hours off total travel time compared with one-stop options today.

flydubai, the Dubai-based airline, announced today the launch of flights to Izmir in Turkey starting from 26 June with a three-times weekly service. Flights to Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB) will operate from Terminal 2 at Dubai International (DXB) on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. With the start of flights to Izmir, flydubai’s network in Turkey will grow to four points including Ankara (ESB), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW) and Istanbul Airport (IST). flydubai will also operate summer seasonal routes to Bodrum (BJV) and Trabzon (TZX) frpm 23 June to offer passengers more options to travel this summer.

The northern runway at Dubai International Airport will be closed for 45 days between May 9 and June 22 to carry out overall refurbishment works and ensure continued safety and efficiency in operations. Officials recently announced several flights would be diverted to alternate airports as a result. The scheduled programme of repair works at Dubai International Airport will see more than 1,000 flights per week diverted to other terminals at DXB, Dubai World Central as well as Sharjah airport.

Mumbai is the sixth city in India that Air Arabia Abu Dhabi flies to after Calicut, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Trivandrum. The new service represents the 20th route for Air Arabia Abu Dhabi since the launch of the carrier’s service from Abu Dhabi International Airport in July 2020.Customers can now book their direct flights between Abu Dhabi and Mumbai by visiting Air Arabia’s website, by calling the call center or through travel agencies.

In response to growing passenger demand for air travel, Emirates will double its flights between Algiers and Dubai from two to four weekly, starting 1 May 2022. The service currently between Algiers and Dubai will no longer be linked with Tunis, offering more flexibility and convenience to travel to Dubai and onwards to Emirates’ extensive network of more than 130 destinations. Emirates is also the only airline serving Algeria with private, enclosed First Class cabins, offering premium customers an enriched experience across every touchpoint of the journey.

Dubai Airports confirms plans to close Dubai International’s (DXB) northern runway for a 45-day period between May 9 and June 22, 2022 to carry out complete refurbishment that will ensure continued safety and efficient operations. While regular runway maintenance is scheduled on a weekly basis, more extensive upgrades such as the one planned require a complete closure of the runway. Dubai Airports continues to invest in developing and maintaining its world class infrastructure to enhance customer service quality and capacity and maintain its position as the world’s busiest international airport.

Qatar Airways has launched its ‘Let’s Fly’ campaign to encourage travellers to take to the skies in search of new experiences and memories.With trips postponed, family occasions missed and friends disconnected over the last two years, the new campaign aims to inspire people to start an exceptional journey of discovery from the moment they step on board a Qatar Airways aircraft. With creative agency partner McCann London, this marks the largest brand collaboration of the airline in seven years. As one of the only airlines to never stop flying during the pandemic, Qatar Airways has regrown its network to almost 150 global destinations, with around 500 daily flights taking people to where they want to go.

Abu Dhabi Airports, the owner and operator of the emirate’s five airports, and Etihad Guest, the loyalty programme of Etihad Airways, signed an agreement to launch the “Miles on the Go” product at Abu Dhabi International Airport.Etihad Guest members can now instantly earn and spend Etihad Guest Miles when shopping at participating merchants located at Abu Dhabi International Airport. By simply downloading the Etihad Guest app and linking up to five Visa cards to their profiles, members can spend their miles and receive cashback on their cards.Members can earn 1 Etihad Guest Mile and 1 Etihad Guest Tier Mile for every AED 3 spent at any of the 119 participating outlets including, lounges, luxury retail stores, dining establishments and Duty-Free outlets from over 35 brands.

Emirates has announced it will ramp up its global operations with the restart of services to four destinations, including: Bali (1 May), London Stansted (1 August), Rio de Janeiro (2 November), and Buenos Aires (2 November). The airline has also announced it will boost services to Nigeria, Mauritius and Singapore to serve market demand. In line with the easing of travel restrictions worldwide, Emirates continues to rebuild and expand its global network to meet travel demand.

Emirates has announced a second daily flight on its Dubai-Melbourne route, served by its flagship A380.Starting May 1st, the airline will offer customers fourteen weekly services from Dubai to Melbourne. The expansion of services is supported by the Victorian government to help fast-track the return of international flights to Melbourne and bring more visitors to the state.Emirates’ additional daily flight will depart Dubai daily at 10:05, arriving in Melbourne at 05:30 the next day.From Melbourne, the flight will depart at 05:15 and arrive in Dubai at 13:10.

Singapore has unveiled plans for the Vaccinated Travel Framework (VTF) for all travellers.The new regulations, which replace the current Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme, will come into effect on April 1st.From next Friday, all countries will be classified either under the General Travel or the Restricted Category and border measures would be accorded by individual travellers’ vaccination status.All countries will come under the general category to begin with, with no destination in the restricted category.Travellers will no longer be required to undergo an unsupervised self-administered rapid antigen test within 24 hours of arrival in Singapore.However, they must still take a pre-departure test within two days before departing for Singapore and obtain a negative test result.

The Saudi Arabian government has reopened the visa-on-arrival scheme for holders of valid visas for the US, UK and Schengen area.The move comes two weeks after the country lifted all Covid-19-related entry restrictions and returns Saudi to pre-pandemic levels of openness.Citizens of any country who hold one of the three visas and who are travelling on one of the national carriers – Saudi, Flynas or Flyadeal – can now receive a 12-month tourism visa on arrival in Saudi Arabia without needing to apply in advance.Visitors holding a valid US, UK or Schengen visa must have used it at least once to enter the issuing country or region in order to qualify for a visa on arrival in Saudi.

Emirates will re-introduce pre-pandemic flight frequencies to its destinations in India from April 1st.The airline will be operating 170 weekly flights to nine cities in the country.The move comes on the back of the decision by the Indian government to restore international flights to and from the country in line with established bilateral agreements from the end of March.

South Africa will remain at Adjusted Alert Level 1 with the following amendments taking effect on 23 March 2022; Indoor and outdoor gatherings are permitted at 50% of the total venue capacity, if there is evidence that a person is fully vaccinated, or a negative PCR test is provided. If proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test is not available, the current limits apply for venues (maximum of 1000 people indoors and no more than 2000 people outdoors. Where a venue does not permit these numbers with appropriate social distancing, only 50% of the capacity of the venue will be permitted). All COVID-19 health and safety protocols must be followed, including observance of guidelines for social distancing, sanitation, hygiene, and use of appropriate personal protective equipment, such as face masks where required. All international travellers arriving in South Africa must produce either proof that they are fully vaccinated, or a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours. Masks must be worn for the duration of travel. A person entering the Republic must be subjected to screening on arrival at the point of entry, including the completion of a traveller health questionnaire. It remains essential to check the entry requirements of the country you wish to travel to, inclusive of any transits, stop overs as well as the end destination. Any returning South African citizens and residents will be subject to entry regulations and protocols.

easyJet and easyJet holidays have added seven new routes and more holidays to its UK network for this summer. Four new routes will launch from London Gatwick, easyJet’s largest base. The airline will now serve Pristina in Kosovo for the first time from the UK. The country remains one of the last truly off-the-beaten-path destinations in Europe and customers can now access it via a four-weekly service operating for the first time from May 1st.

Emirates has confirmed that it will be commencing daily services to Tel Aviv from June 23rd. The carrier will operate its three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the route. Adnan Kazim, chief commercial officer, Emirates Airline, said: “We look forward to finally welcoming customers onboard our flights to and from Tel Aviv this summer, and offer them substantial connectivity to and through our Dubai hub as Covid-19 travel restrictions continue to ease around the world and more borders open up.

Qatar Airways is to resume flights to London Gatwick Airport from June 5th. The airline will operate a daily service from Gatwick to Doha using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in business class and 232 seats in economy. The resumption of the London Gatwick service complements recently launched flights to Doha from Gatwick by Qatar Airways’ joint business partner British Airways. The partnership means the airlines can jointly offer more options between London and the capital of Qatar.

Those travelling through Heathrow will no longer be required to wear a face mask after the airport announced that it is moving away from a mandate from tomorrow. In recognition that the pandemic is not over, however, Heathrow said it still strongly encourages those at the airport to continue wearing a face covering – particularly when coming into close contact with others. This, though, will no longer be a firm requirement.

Malaysia Airlines will be increasing its flight capacity by over 70,000 seats on its non-stop flight schedule from London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur International Airport from March 27th. This will see the national carrier of Malaysia bring back its MH1 and MH3 flights to 11-times-weekly until June 29th. A full return to a double daily service will begin from June 30th onwards. This will significantly increase the volume of flights available for passengers ahead of the eagerly awaited Malaysia border openings on April 1st.

Malaysia will open its borders to international travellers from April 1st. The decision comes as the country transitions to an endemic phase of the pandemic, boosting the aviation and tourism sectors. The country has largely remained closed off to international visitors for two years. Under the new rules, fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to quarantine on arrival, provided they take a PCR test two days before departure and a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of arrival in Malaysia.