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In light of continued Covid concerns, the carrier has issued fresh notices for travellers from 15 countries in Africa. According to the latest update on the Emirates website, customers originating from the following destinations will not be accepted for travel to or through Dubai: Angola, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Ethiopia. While customers originating from Conakry to Dakar will not be accepted for travel, outbound passenger operations from Dubai to these destinations remain unaffected. But flights to and from the following points will not be accepted for travel: Core d’Ivoire, Lusaka, Harare, Lagos, Abuja and Casablanca. A statement said: “Affected customers do not need to call us immediately for rebooking. Customers can simply hold on to their Emirates ticket and when flights resume, get in touch with their travel agent or booking office to make new travel plans.”

With effect from 00:01am on 06 January, the additional international travel requirements applied in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant have been removed. Vaccinated or recovered travellers into Ireland are required to present evidence of a valid Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) or other acceptable proof of vaccination/previous infection prior to travel. Travellers that are not vaccinated or recovered (with the exception the exemptions specified on gov.ie, including children aged 11 and under) are required to present evidence of a not detected RT-PCR test carried out no more than 72 hours before their arrival into Ireland.

With effect from 06 January 2022, South Africa has been removed from Seychelles' list of restricted countries. The following regulations and entry regulations will apply for visitors to Seychelles. Negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to departure. Completed Health Travel Authorisation required available on seychelles.govtas.com. Valid travel and health insurance to cover Covid-19 related quarantine, isolation and treatment. Individuals who have had a recent past infection (between 2 and 12 weeks before the date of departure) can produce a negative rapid antigen test within 72hours of departure, with evidence of this infection (positive test result and certificate confirming completion of isolation or certificate of recovery) instead of a PCR test. These documents should be submitted during the Travizory application process. Asymptomatic children under the age of 2 will be exempted from PCR or Antigen testing requirements. When staying at a certified tourism establishment no tests will be required to be taken during the stay, however where this is not the case, a day-5 PCR test is required to be taken. Conditions for the stay of children up to age 17, will be as for the parent/guardian they are accompanying. Different regulations will apply for Seychellois, residents and their Dependents as well as Gainful-Occupation-Permit holders and their Dependents.

As of 09 January 2022 entry of vaccinated/recovered tourists from 'orange' countries will be permitted, which South Africa will now be qualified as. The following regulations will be in place; fully Vaccinated with final dose at least 14 days prior to entry and at most 180 days when leaving Israel, or have received a booster shot at least 14 days prior to entry. An Entry Statement to be completed within 48 hours of entry on https://corona.health.gov.il/en/flights/. PCR Test 72 hours before flight or Antigen test 24 hours before flight. A second PCR test will be administered on arrival, where visitors will then be required to quarantine for 24 hours or until a test result comes back negative, whichever is sooner. The requirement for testing on arrival will be in place from 04 January for all vaccinated arrivals. The test can be paid for on arrival or prepaid online prior at a more affordable rate on https://testngo.femi.com/en/sign-in. Unvaccinated travellers will have to quarantine for 14 full days and will not be allowed to leave the country until the quarantine period is completed.

ith a surge in cases relating to the new omicron variant, various regions across India are adding new travel restrictions during the busy holiday travel period. This week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) introduced a seven-day home quarantine for all passengers arriving in Mumbai from the UAE. Along with mandatory quarantine, all passengers are required to show proof of double vaccination in addition to a negative PCR test taken no longer than 72 hours prior to travel. Passengers incoming from at-risk countries to Delhi will be required to take a PCR test on arrival, and those who will present with a positive test will then need to undergo a seven-day quarantine. A PCR test must be taken on the eighth day; if the results are still positive, travellers must self-quarantine for an additional seven days. All travellers arriving in India are also advised to pre-download Aarogya Setu, a COVID-19 tracking app developed by the government where travellers can upload their Covid vaccination certificates and PCR tests.

The UAE will ban all unvaccinated citizens from travel on January 10, the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) announced Saturday. The new rules also require Emiratis planning to travel to have received a booster dose of vaccine if they are eligible. The booster can be taken six months after an individual has received their second dose of vaccine.

South Africa will be removed as a virus variant area from 03 January. From 04 January South Africa will be considered a high-risk area, whereby travellers from high-risk areas can enter Germany under the relaxed conditions. All travellers will be required to complete the digital entry registration form. Persons over the age of six must provide a negative test result, proof of recovery OR vaccination. Tests that are accepted will be either a negative PCR test result taken no more than 72 hours prior to entry or a negative antigen rapid test, carried out no more than 48 hours prior to entry. For persons who have been vaccinated or recovered and arrive from a high-risk area, mandatory quarantine ends immediately after submitting proof of vaccination or proof of recovery on the entry portal of the Federal Republic of Germany. For all other travellers, a 10 day self-isolation applies, that can be ended after 5 days by submitting a negative test result.

South Africa will remain at Adjusted Alert Level 1. Curfew will be lifted and there will be no restriction on the hours of movement of people. Gatherings are permitted however only a maximum of 1000 people indoors and no more than 2000 people outdoors will be allowed. All international travellers arriving in South Africa must produce a negative PCR test, to be presented on arrival and not older than 72 hours from the date of departure from the country of origin. 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.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s ultra-low-fare national airline, will now add its second Russian flight destination, this time to Krasnodar. The announcement follows the recent addition of Moscow to the airline’s flight network making Krasnodar the second Russian destination available with Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. The flight to Krasnodar will operate two times a week on Monday and Friday. Tickets are on sale on wizzair.com and the airline’s mobile app (also available in Arabic)

Qatar Airways will add Tashkent, Uzbekistan to its global network with twice weekly flights from next month. The first flight from Doha to Tashkent will take off on January 17, 2022, operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft, featuring 12 seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class. The twice-weekly service will depart Doha every Monday and Friday.

The US CDC issued a Level 4 recommendation yesterday (December 6) against travel to France, Portugal, Jordan, Cyprus, Andorra, Liechtenstein and Tanzania, adding to a long list of destinations, including Germany and Denmark. The State Department issued an aligning warning against travel to the above countries and added Fiji to its ‘Do Not Travel’ list.

Passengers will not be allowed to board a flight to the UK without producing evidence of a negative PCR or lateral flow test result. The UK will require all travellers to take a pre-flight Covid-19 test within 48 hours prior to their flight – regardless of their vaccine status. The amended rules come into force from 4am on Tuesday this week and come in light of the continued spread of the Omicron variant. They will apply to vaccinated passengers and children aged 12 and above.

Canada announced on Saturday (December 4) that it would allow Canadians to return home from South Africa if they had a negative molecular test taken within two days of departure, and leave on flights transiting through Frankfurt on or before December 13.

Saudi Arabia on Friday announced the lifting of air travel restrictions from countries where flights were previously banned due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The circular allows passengers coming from Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Vietnam, Egypt and India to enter Saudi Arabia without the need to spend 14 days outside these countries before entering into the kingdom. However, they must spend five days in quarantine regardless of their vaccination status outside the kingdom, according to a statement carried by Saudi Press Agency.

Due to the Omicron Covid-19 variant, new restrictions on travel between South Africa and further Southern African countries, have been put in place. The newly added countries applying either additional testing requirements, quarantine on arrival, travel for restricted exempt travellers or complete bans on travel for the affected countries include; Kuwait, Norway, Fiji, South Korea, Indonesia, Slovenia, Finland, the Bahamas, Mongolia, Macau, Brunei, Lithuania, Peru, the Ukraine, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, Ecuador, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Chile, St Vincent and The Grenadine, Aruba, and Uzbekistan.

The government has reintroduced red list restrictions on arrivals from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia with immediate effect. The move comes in response to the discovery of a new variant of Covid-19. Variant B.1.1.529 has been declared a “variant under investigation” by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Officials said the variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome.

Saudi Arabia will allow direct entry to travelers from all countries who have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine starting from December 4, the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday. Travelers allowed entry would have to quarantine for three days. The ministry did not specify a particular vaccine as a requirement. The Kingdom suspended on Friday flights to and from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini over concerns of the spread of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. It allowed airports to operate at 100 percent capacity, cancelled the requirement of social distancing in public places, modes of transportation, restaurants, and cinemas, as well as lifting the requirement of wearing masks outdoors. The authorities also lifted the restrictions on the number of people at gatherings such as wedding halls and event venues.

One out of five destinations continue to have their borders completely closed as new surges of Covid-19 impact the restart of international tourism. The latest research shows that 98 per cent of all destinations still have some kind of travel restrictions in place. According to the UNWTO Travel Restrictions Report, 46 destinations (21 per cent of all destinations worldwide) currently have their borders completely closed to tourists. Of these, 26 destinations have had their borders completely closed since at least the end of April last year. A further 55 (25 per cent of all global destinations) continue to have their borders partially closed to international tourism, and 112 destinations (52 per cent of all destinations) require international tourists to present a PCR or antigen test upon arrival. The research also shows how destinations are opening up to vaccinated international tourists: 85 destinations have eased restrictions for fully vaccinated international tourists, while 20 destinations have made a full Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for entering a destination for tourism purposes. However, just four destinations have so far lifted all Covid-19-related restrictions completely (Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Mexico).

Air Astana will resume flights from Almaty to New Delhi, the capital of India, on December 16th, with three services a week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft. Departure from Almaty on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays is scheduled for 07:50 and arrival in New Delhi at 11:10, with return flight at 12:20 and arrival in Almaty at 16:40. All times local, with a flight time of three hours and 50 minutes in each direction. Air Astana offers convenient connections for passengers travelling from Kyiv, Bishkek, Istanbul, Tbilisi and Baku.

Various countries, as listed below, have issued new travel restrictions on traffic originating from Southern African countries, including South Africa, due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 (these may include but are not limited to quarantine upon arrival, additional testing, vaccination requirements or a complete travel ban). The affected countries currently are listed as the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Mauritius, Seychelles, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Croatia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Belgium, France, Spain, Malta, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Guatemala, Cyprus, Canada, the US, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Egypt, India, Japan, the Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Thailand, Pakistan, Israel, New Zealand, Angola. The situation is extremely fluid and changing constantly. Travel into a great number of the countries that imposed a travel ban or travel halt, is restricted to travel being allowed for citizens and permanent residents, with limited exemptions being allowed.