More nations have started to require a negative Covid-19 test to board flights destined to the country. Some require expensive and sometimes hard to get PCR-RT while others accept an antigen one too (faster and cheap).
The United States is joining countries that require all air arrivals, including its citizens and residents, to have a negative viral test (I would assume antigen is acceptable too) administered no longer than 3 days before departure.
Japan has bad luck with its Olympics for the second time; the 1940 Summer Olympics were held in Japan, moved to Helsinki, and eventually canceled due to the Second World War.
The 2020 Summer Olympics were called off in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic spreading worldwide and moved to 2021. It is now unclear whether these games will go forward in about six months because most of the Japanese population opposes them.
Airlines have had challenges to operate flights to and from Australia due to the limited number of quarantine slots available for returning citizens and residents in each gateway city and test requirements for the crews operating flights.
Australia will now uniformly require all flight crews to be tested upon their arrival and quarantine until their return flight at specific hotels.
Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 destined to Pontianak appears to have plunged to the sea four minutes after departure from Jakarta at 2:36 PM local time after a delay due to heavy rain.
The Boeing 737 plane was carrying 50 passengers (43 adults and 7 children) and 12 crew members. The aircraft was 27 years old and began its service in the US as part of Continental’s fleet in 1994 before disposed of by United Airlines in 2012.
Winter storm Filomena is wreaking havoc in central Spain with the biggest snowfall seen in 60 years.
With an accumulated snowfall of 40 cm/16 in. in the past 24 hours, Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport was forced to close at 10pm yesterday, and is not due to be reopened any time today as the worst part of the storm is yet to come.
Today, England, Wales, and Scotland instituted lockdowns prohibiting all but necessary visits outside of homes, such as buying food and medicines. England’s lockdown is set to last until mid-February.
Passengers entering the UK will soon require to provide the airline a negative Covid-19 PCR-RT test administered no more than 72 hours before scheduled departure. It is unclear if this also applies to transit passengers.
Canadian minister announced on Wednesday that soon, all passengers arriving by air would need to provide a negative Covid-19 PCR-RT test that was administered within 72 hours of scheduled departure.
On Friday, the Transport Minister confirmed the date of January 7, 2021, when this requirement begins, that won’t apply to land arrivals. Passengers who have not been able to administer PCR-RT tests before arriving in the country by air are quarantined at government facilities for two weeks.
Spain and the UK reached an agreement on Thursday over Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, that will see it joining the EU’s Schengen despite the “motherland” exiting the European Union for good.
The agreement will be signed by the UK and European Union that will see Frontex and Spain handling the passport/immigration checks at Gibraltar’s port and airport during the four year implementation period.
Canada’s border has been closed for most non-citizen/resident arrivals for a while, although essential business travel is allowed.
Canadian government tries to lower non-essential travel (read leisure) by its citizen by soon requiring all air arrivals to have a negative Covid-19 PCR-RT test administered not more than 72 hours before scheduled departure.
Many countries instituted travel bans from the UK last week due to a more transmissible mutation of Covid-19 that is creating havoc in Southeast and London.
Switzerland instituted a ban week ago on Monday that also retroactively required tourists who had arrived from the UK from December 14 to quarantine for 10 of their arrival. 200+ British tourists felt that this didn’t apply to them and fled the quarantine in the Swiss ski resort area of Verbier in the middle of the night.
Japan closed its border for most non-citizen arrivals in March and only allowed foreign residents who were outside of the country when this took place to return this fall.
The 2020 Olympics were rescheduled to take place a year later. The country is now trying to develop a solution that would allow international spectators and the athletes and support crew to enter the country during the games.
A small regional airline based in Podgorica Airport, Montenegro Airlines, has folded after the country’s government decided to pull the plug.
The chronically money-losing airline was founded when Montenegro was still part of Yugoslavia in 1994. The country plans to launch a new national airline in late 2021.
Argentina reopened for visitors from neighboring countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay in Uruguay in early November and was supposed to welcome other international visitors from December 20th,
Now, both of these plans are put on hold. Only Argentinean citizens and residents are allowed to enter until January 31, 2021.
United States will require all passengers arriving from the UK, including US residents and citizens, to have a negative PCR-RT or antigen test performed not more than 72 hours before scheduled departure.
A more transmissible variant of Covid-19 is prevalent in the UK, and countries are trying to slow down the spread.
