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The UK government has published a written statement confirming that a requirement for all international arrivals to England, including UK nationals, to present a qualifying negative COVID-19 test result obtained a maximum of 72 hours prior to departure, will begin from 04.00 (GMT) on Friday 15 January 2021. There are a limited number of permanent and temporary exemptions by point of departure, including an indefinite exemption to passengers from St. Helena, Ascension Island and the Falklands. In addition, arrivals from three countries will have a temporary exemption until 21 January due to a lack of testing infrastructure: Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia and Barbados.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Scotland has announced that as of 04.00 (GMT) today, Monday 11 January, anyone arriving or returning to Scotland from Dubai will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, as the region has been removed from the list of those that are exempt from self-isolation requirements. Those passengers that have travelled back to Scotland from Dubai since 3 January 2021 are also being asked to isolate for 10 days, from the date they arrived back in the country. Other destinations in the UAE currently remain exempt from self-isolation requirements for arrival in Scotland, and arrivals to England from Dubai remain exempt from self-isolation requirements at this time also.

The UK government has announced that as of 04.00 (GMT) on Tuesday 12 January, anyone arriving or returning to England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, as the country will be removed from the list of nations that are exempt from self-isolation requirements. This includes all emirates of the UAE; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al-Quwain, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

The airline has confirmed that all flights departing from the UK to Hong Kong will continue to be suspended until at least 25 January. Cathay Pacific have said the decision is in view of the entry restrictions put in place by the government of Hong Kong on arrivals from the UK.

The UK government has announced that entry into England will be banned to those who have travelled from or through any southern African country in the last 10 days including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique and Angola – as well as Seychelles and Mauritius. This does not include British and Irish Nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who will be able to enter but are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival along with their household. The government has therefore also removed Botswana, Seychelles and Mauritius from the travel corridor list, with the changes coming into place from 04.00 (local time) on Saturday 9 January 2021. The measures will be in place for an initial period of 2 weeks before being reviewed. The country's government has also removed Israel (and Jerusalem) from the 'travel corridor' list.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has confirmed it will commence flights to Athens from Abu Dhabi International Airport from 15 January, and to Thessaloniki from 4 February.

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 announced that international arrivals from COVID-19 risk areas will now be required to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test result prior to arrival, in addition to undertaking a second test five days after arrival following a mandatory quarantine period.

The country's government has extended a ban on entry previously imposed on passengers arriving from the UK, the Netherlands and South Africa; the measure is now set to expire no earlier than 13 January, after previously being set to expire on 7 January. The restriction has been in place since 22 December following the emergence of new and more infectious strains of COVID-19 in the UK and South Africa.

The country's government announced yesterday evening a return to a national COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ for England following a rise in infections, which came into effect from 00.01 (GMT) today, Tuesday 5 January. Among the restrictions are a blanket closure of all non-essential retail and most leisure facilities nationwide, the closure of schools, and an increased emphasis on staying home at all times with the exception of a small number of exemptions. The devolved administrations of the UK have also made similar announcements, with a similar full ‘lockdown’ announced in Scotland; schools have also closed to most pupils in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The airline has confirmed the addition of six new flight routes to its network out of the UK. The new routes, launching in the spring, offer connections between Doncaster Sheffield, Gatwick and London Luton airports and sunshine destinations in Turkey, Bulgaria, Spain and Greece. The new holiday routes include four summer-only routes from Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

The country's government has declared that a COVID-19 state of emergency is now in force until at least 22 January, with virus-related restrictions raised to their highest (fifth) level. Updated measures include shop closures and nightly curfews between 21.00 and 05.00 (local time). Health and travel restrictions are also changing frequently, and regions may differ according to the rate of infection.

The country's government has announced the closure of Angola's air, land, and sea borders to passenger travel to and from Australia, Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK from 23.59 (local time) on 26 December due to the emergence of a variant strain of COVID-19; it is currently unclear how long this measure will be in place. Regardless of the travel ban, entry into Angola remains highly restricted as part of the nation's pandemic-related state of calamity, which is in effect until at least 10 January 2021. International travel and internal restrictions therefore remain in place.

The country's government has announced that only Turkish citizens, foreign nationals with a residency permit for Turkey, state officials or diplomatic personnel will be now permitted to travel from South Africa, the UK and Denmark to the country on direct flights; passengers must also present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result obtained a maximum of 72 hours prior to their arrival. Passengers will be required to quarantine and will be subjected to a further COVID-19 PCR test seven days later. Weekday and weekends curfews also apply while in-country.

It has been announced that in response to the new variants of COVID-19 in both South Africa and the UK, from 09.00 on 24 December direct flights from South Africa to the UK have been suspended; visitors arriving into England who have been in or transited through South Africa in the previous 10 days will also not be permitted entry. British and Irish Nationals, visa holders and permanent residents will still be able to enter upon completion of a passenger location form but are required to self-isolate for ten days along with their household.

In an update to a previous alert, the country's government has now announced the limited resumption of travel from the UK to France from 24.00 (CET) on 22 December. Previously it advised that UK travel was restricted for air, car, ferry and train passengers from 24.00 (CET) on 22 December, until at least 6 January, subject to a possible review. Further updates will be published when available.

In an update to a previous alert, the country's government has extended the ban on flights and passenger ferry journeys from Great Britain to Ireland until 31 December. This applies to passengers from Great Britain regardless of nationality. Essential supply chain workers are exempt. The restrictions have been introduced in response to the discovery of a new strain of COVID-19 within parts of the UK.

The country's government announced on 21 December the suspension of all UK flights to and from Chisinau from midnight on 23 December. No date to review this decision has been announced. The restrictions have been introduced in response to the discovery of a new strain of COVID-19 within parts of the UK.

The country's government has announced that entry to Panama is closed to all those who have been in the United Kingdom or South Africa 20 days prior to their arrival unless they are Panamanian nationals or residents. The restrictions have been introduced in response to the discovery of a new strain of COVID-19 within the two countries.

The airline has confirmed that it will continue flights from South Africa to Amsterdam, following a previous announcement of a reduction in operations on the route from 13 December onwards. The Dutch Government also issued new regulations requiring all travellers from South Africa to present a valid, negative COVID-19 PCR test result obtained a maximum of 72 hours prior to arrival into the country.