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The airline has optimised their schedules in order to offer flights facilitating same-day business trips in Europe during October; they are now offering a selection of pre-09.00 outbound and post-17.00 (GMT+1) inbound flights between London Heathrow in the UK and key destination cities in Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, among others.

The airline said yesterday, 23 September, that it will not further expand its flight offering at this time, instead maintaining a restricted schedule during the winter months, including operating at around 55% of capacity in November.

The French government unveiled tighter COVID-19 restrictions yesterday, 23 September, including a map of ‘danger zones’ around the country. Designated areas include Marseille, where local authorities have been given days to enforce increased measures. Paris and its suburbs, plus Lille and Toulouse were also declared ‘reinforced danger zones’, entailing further restrictions on event attendance, gatherings and early closures for some businesses.

The country's government is reportedly set to unveil tighter COVID-19 restrictions for Paris today, 23 September, following a cabinet meeting. Among the measures are expected to be a ban on public gatherings of more than 10 people, as well as restrictions on alcohol sales and crowd numbers at major events.

The airlines of the Lufthansa Group have signalled their intentions to start making rapid COVID-19 antigen tests available to passengers from October, and may consider opening dedicated test centres at airports in the U.S. and Canada. Although rapid antigen tests are thought to be less accurate than PCR testing, they are able to yield results within around 15 minutes.

The cruise line has confirmed that it has extended the suspension of all departures until at least 6 December; canceled sailings include those on the Disney Fantasy through to 6 December, the Disney Dream and Disney Wonder through to 11 December and the Disney Magic through to 12 December.

The middle eastern airline is set to further increase its network in the coming month; among the highlights, in mid-October Qatar will resume flights to Seychelles and Windhoek, Namibia. The airline will also increase frequencies to Clark International Airport and Manila in the Philippines; Copenhagen, Denmark; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Madrid, Spain; Manchester, UK and Stockholm, Sweden.

The government of Italy has announced that from today, 22 September, people travelling to the country from Paris and some other areas of France will face mandatory COVID-19 testing. Testing will be mandatory for those travelling from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Corsica, Hauts-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and Île-de-France - the region that includes Paris.

The national airline of Rwanda has announced that flights from the country’s capital, Kigali, are set to resume from 3 October; a twice-weekly service on twin-aisle A330 aircraft will operate from the UK's London Heathrow until 25 October, when it will become three-times weekly.

The airline has published its latest long haul network schedule for October 2020.

The government of Switzerland has moved South Africa onto its list of countries whose citizens do not need to quarantine for a mandatory 14 days upon arrival. Switzerland's list of countries from which arrivals are required to undergo mandatory quarantine is updated regularly based on a number of factors, including the number of active cases over the past seven days. Switzerland has declared South Africa - along with Ecuador, Faroe Islands, and Guatemala - free from this constraint.

Visa applications for travel to Germany from India are now being accepted at some locations; among them, the German consulate in Bangalore is now accepting applications of 'D' category visas, and the German visa application centres in both Chennai and Hyderabad are also accepting additional 'D' and limited 'C' visa applications. As of September 2020, these applications can only be processed through Indian government partner VFS.

The UK government has announced that from 04.00 (local time) on 9 September, both arrivals and returning passengers to England from the Greek islands of Crete, Lesvos, Mykonos, Santorini, Serifos, Tinos and Zakynthos will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. In addition, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has also advised British nationals against all but essential travel to these destinations, based on the risk currently presented due to their levels of COVID-19. The mainland, and remaining islands within the country, remain exempt from these changes. Meanwhile, the devolved government of Scotland has placed the same restrictions on all arrivals to Scotland from anywhere in Greece since 3 September.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline is now offering COVID-19 insurance cover as part of their Global Wellness program; the cover is included with every Etihad ticket travelling between 7 September and 31 December, for the first 31 days of a passenger’s trip.

The airline, along with partner carrier SilkAir, has published its latest schedule update for flights in September, October and November 2020. Among the updates are reinstated flights to three destinations including Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Taipei, Taiwan. The airlines have said that following these resumptions, by the end of November flight capacity will have reached 11% of pre-COVID-19 levels.

The cross-channel rail provider has announced that Eurostar trains will not stop in the UK county of Kent until 2022, due in a drop in demand related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Services have not been stopping in the two affected stations, Ashford and Ebbsfleet, since March - however the decision to extend this closure until 2022 has come as a surprise to many, and is not a decision that the provider says has been taken lightly.

The government of Malaysia yesterday, 3 September, added at least nine more countries to its list of those from which long-term immigration pass holders will be barred entry to the country. From 7 September, entry will be restricted for those with the aforementioned visas from countries including the UK, United States, France, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Wales has said that as of 04.00 (GMT+1) this morning, 4 September, arrivals from mainland Portugal, Gibraltar, French Polynesia and six Greek Islands must self-isolate on arrival. Among the Greek islands affected are Crete, Zakynthos, Mykonos, Lesvos, Paros and Antiparos. The announcement is the first time that the government of Wales has opted to set different quarantine rules to those of England and the UK government.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Scotland has said that as of 04.00 (GMT+1) tomorrow, 5 September, arrivals from Portugal and French Polynesia must self-isolate on arrival. The announcement is the latest in a number of occasions over the last few months whereby the government of Scotland has opted to set different quarantine rules to those of England and the UK government.

The country has resumed international flights with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives according to a Russian government order published today. Three flights per week are reportedly authorised to Cairo, as well as two flights per week to Dubai and the Maldives.