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The Kazakh airline has announced that it will resume direct flights between Almaty and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on 16 March. Services will be operating three times per week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Flight-time between Almaty and Tbilisi is four hours and 15 minutes, and three hours and 40 mins on return from Tbilisi to Almaty.

The low-cost airline has announced the launch of a COVID-19 travel 'wallet', which is available for customers within the Ryanair mobile app; passengers can now upload their negative COVID-19 PCR tests, their COVID-19 vaccination certificates and other documents that may be required for EU travel this summer.

Collinson is the first private provider to offer the mandatory COVID-19 tests currently required for all arrivals into the UK. Travellers can now opt to take the first of their two required RT-PCR tests as soon as they arrive at London Heathrow, Manchester, London Stansted, London City, Luton or East Midlands airports.

The country's foreign ministry announced today, 11 March, that France will ease some COVID-19 restrictions on international travel outside of Europe; passengers arriving to or from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Britain and Singapore will no longer need a compelling reason to travel. All other restrictions, such as a requirement for a negative COVID-19 test result obtained no more than 72 hours before travel, will remain in place. An official decree with further, confirmed information is due to be published on 12 March.

Italy's main train operator, the state-owned Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, has announced from April they will begin operating 'COVID-free' train services, including to Italy's main tourist destinations, in time for the Summer season. As part of this initiative, passengers will have to arrive at the station an hour ahead of departure, before being subject to testing for COVID-19 prior to boarding - with train crew also undergoing the same procedure.

The airline has announced that from 15 March it will begin testing the International Air Transport Association's 'Travel Pass' mobile health verification app on flights from Singapore to London; from this date, passengers on that route using Apple iOS-enabled phones will be able to download the app and create a digital identification with their photo and passport information. They also can submit flight information and book a COVID-19 test at one of seven participating clinics in Singapore, after which their test results can be viewed directly in the app. Check-in staff at Singapore's Changi airport can then verify their status via the app, which will speed up the check-in process.

The airline has announced that it has extended its COVID-19 global wellness insurance cover until 1 October 2021; the cover is included with every Etihad ticket, providing protection for the first 31 days of a passenger’s trip.

The hotel brand has announced that from this month, event planner partners who book or have booked an event at any U.S. property will gain access to the 'EventReady Playbook' - a manual including a list of third party partners that can provide a variety of COVID-19 testing and health screening options; among other options this will include same day, on-site COVID-19 testing.

The government of the Portuguese island of Madeira has opened a ‘green corridor’ to admit tourists who have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19; the destination previously already allows visitors to enter with proof of a negative COVID-19 test result. To be eligible for the new travel corridor, tourists must prove their status through one of two documents – either proof of COVID-19 recovery in the last 90 days or an official vaccination certificate, which includes the date of the two doses taken and the immunisation period for each vaccine. Documentation in English must be submitted to the Madeirasafe.com app before the trip is taken.

The country's government has published updated COVID-19 entry requirements that come into effect from 1 March, introducing a new 4-tier colour-coded system allowing tourist visitors from over 40 countries to enter without requiring a quarantine period; passengers will however be subject to different levels of COVID-19 testing requirements based on the associated risk level assigned to their point of origin.

The government of Germany has announced that it has added France's eastern Moselle region to its list of COVID-19 'variant concern' areas, triggering tougher entry requirements at the border between the two neighbours. Under the new restrictions, almost all travel will be banned; there are only a few exemptions, including lorry drivers and certain key workers. Anyone crossing the border will have to provide a valid, negative COVID-19 test result.

The country's government has announced that it is extending current, strict COVID-19 border checks at crossing points with the Czech Republic and Austria’s Tyrol province until at least 3 March. At these crossings, Germany is limiting entry to its own citizens and residents, truck drivers, health workers and a few others including cross-border commuters working in 'systemically relevant sectors'. All are required to show a negative COVID-19 test result.

The country's government has announced that the country will continue at the highest level of COVID-19 restrictions until at least 5 April.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Scotland has announced that it's current COVID-19 stay-at-home order is set to end on 5 April, to be followed by a return to a level system to ease out of lockdown restrictions. The Scottish government has said that will be able to give more details in mid-March on how restrictions will be eased from the end of April onwards.

The country's government announced updated entry requirements for arrivals which took effect from 22 February; among them, quarantine requirements on arrival have been lifted for passengers arriving with certification that they have been vaccinated for COVID-19. The certification must show that the passenger has received a European Union-approved vaccine.

The UK government has announced a new four-step 'roadmap' to ease COVID-19 restrictions in England which could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by 21 June, if strict conditions are met. There will be a gap of at least five weeks between each of the plan's steps to allow for the impact of changes on infection rates and hospital admissions to be assessed. During step three, which will begin no earlier than 17 May, an easing of international travel restrictions is also due to begin.

The country's government announced yesterday, 14 February, that it had stopped most cross border travel between regions in its south and east, and the neighbouring countries of Czech Republic and Austria; the measures were taken in a bid to prevent COVID-19 variants from spreading, and are set to remain in place for at least 10 days. State-owned rail company Deutsche Bahn has also suspended services to and from the affected areas. Only a handful of exemptions including returning German citizens, essential workers and trade links are permitted. Slovakia was also subject to new German restrictions from 14 February following concerns over virus variants, despite not sharing a land border with the country. Controls may soon also be installed at the border with the Moselle region in eastern France due to similar concerns.

London's Luton Airport has welcomed the news that rail operator East Midlands Railway (EMR) is set to introduce a new half hourly non-stop service between London St Pancras and Luton Airport Parkway, the station serving the airport. The new service will be introduced as part of the May 2021 timetable change and is the first significant step towards a separately-branded ‘Luton Airport Express’ service. The service will operate using electric trains and run every 30 minutes between 06.00 and 22.00 (local time) daily, with additional late night and early morning services to serve departures from the airport.

The country's government has published updated entry restrictions for international arrivals from some countries, in a further bid to limit the spread of new variants of COVID-19; if passengers have been in or transited through the UK, South Africa , Japan or Brazil within the previous 15 days they won't be permitted to enter Mauritius until at least 28 February. Arrivals must also undergo COVID-19 (PCR) testing no more than seven days prior to departure for Mauritius, in addition to testing on arrival, and and on days seven and 14 of a mandatory hotel quarantine period. Locally, social distancing measures and face masks are mandated in public, including in workplaces and on public transport.

The country's government has announced that from 14 February it will restrict the number of passengers permitted to travel domestically on long-distance trains and buses, in an effort to a curb a rise in infections from COVID-19 variants. Capacity will be limited to 50% if the journey is longer than 150 kilometres, and the measure will be in place until at least the end of May. Exceptions will be made for people who have already bought tickets.