Travel Advisory

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday extend the total lock down in containment zones till July 19.
According to a notification by the Home Department, the rigorous containment in these areas would be extended from July 15 to July 19.

These zones are located in and around Kolkata, besides Jalpaiguri, Malda, Cooch Behar, Raiganj and Siliguri, it said.

The total lock down was enforced in the containment zones from 5 pm of July 9 to stem the spike in COVID-19 cases.

CBC News has confirmed that the agreement to restrict travel across the Canada-U.S. border will be extended into August. 

Senior government officials confirm the arrangement limiting border access to essential travel only will be rolled over for another 30 days. 

The agreement, which has to be reviewed each month, was set to expire on July 21. It's now being renewed for the fourth time since the border closed to non-essential traffic on March 21.

After several months of suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, Air Belgium will relaunch its regular flights from Brussels South Charleroi Airport to the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe this Wednesday 15 July 2020.

Flight KF5961 will depart to Fort-de-France and Pointe-à-Pitre at 10:45 on 15 July, and then twice weekly during the summer.

The Belgian airline intended to relaunch these routes on 24 June, but a few days earlier, the French authorities decided to extend until 10 July the seven to fourteen days quarantine compounded with a compulsory screening test for European passengers arriving in the French West Indies. This made travel very complicated, hence the decision to delay the restart of the Air Belgium flights.

From now on, a PCR test carried out within 72 hours before departure is imposed on all adult passengers and on children older than 11 years. Travelers must present the results confirming that they are not suffering from Covid-19 at the check-in counter, else they will be denied boarding.

ZAGREB, 14 July 2020 – British low-cost airline easyJet has announced a further seven flight resumptions to the Croatian city of Split, Croatian Aviation reports.

Recently, easyJet announced six service resumptions to Croatia and now they have announced seven more from the UK, Italy and France bringing the total number of connections to Split to thirteen.

Seven fights to Split to resume

Lyon – Split – from July 20th, 2 times per week (Mon, Thu)
Bristol – Split – from July 21st, 2 times per week (Tue, Sat)
London Gatwick – Split – from July 18th, 5 times per week (daily except Mon and Fri)
Milan – Split – from July 22nd, 2 times per week (Wed and Sat)
Naples – Split – from July 24th 6 times per week (daily except Wed)
Paris Orly – Split – from July 24th, 2 times per week (Mon and Fri),
Manchester – Split – from July 25th, 2 times per week (Tue and Sat)

Also, a number of weekly flights will be increased on the existing routes:

Amsterdam – Split – from 2 to 5 weekly flights
Geneva – Split from 1 to 3 weekly flights.

Health Alert: Khartoum (Sudan), Partial Re-Opening of Khartoum International Airport

Flights: Effective Monday, July 13, 2020, the Government of Sudan has partially re-opened Khartoum International Airport to international flights. As of July 13, 2020, Sudan has authorized limited international flights to/from Egypt, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. All domestic flights continue to be suspended.

Please note that airlines and/or countries may require proof of a negative COVID-19 test. We [U.S. Embassy] encourage all passengers to check with their airline regarding testing and other requirements.

For those traveling to Sudan, U.S. citizens of Sudanese origin will be subject to COVID-19 testing upon arrival. All other nationals, including U.S. citizens, must possess a certified negative polymerise chain reaction (PCR) test taken within 72 hours of their arrival.

Curfew: Effective Wednesday, July 8, 2020, the Government of Sudan has moved to a 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew in Khartoum. This curfew will remain in effect until further notice. All persons are able to move freely, including across bridges, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time. Public transportation will begin operating on July 8, 2020 in response to the loosened restrictions. From 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., movement, including across bridges, is restricted.

We strongly recommend that all persons comply with the new curfew the government put in place. All persons in Sudan, regardless of nationality, are subject to the curfew as well as all local laws. If you are detained or arrested, the U.S. government can neither secure your release nor act as your legal representative. All U.S. Embassy personnel are required to comply with the curfew.

Additional information, including the latest alerts and messages pertaining to Sudan, may be found here https://sd.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/.

The government's plan to contain the coronavirus to the greatest possible extent while keeping alive the country's crucial tourism season foresees a gradual lifting of bans on flights from certain higher-risk countries alongside new measures to avert the spread of the virus, such as a ban on summer festivals.

Meanwhile authorities are tightening inspections at land borders. From Wednesday, border officials will only be allowing travelers with negative COVID-19 test results to enter the Promachonas border crossing with Bulgaria, while also increasing inspections at the Albanian border crossings of Kakavia and Krystalopigi.

The additional checks have been decided due to a spike in infections related to tourism from the Balkans, government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters on Monday. In the first 11 days of July, authorities recorded four times as many positive coronavirus tests at the Greek-Bulgarian border crossing of Promachonas than at Athens airport, he said.

Petsas also announced that Greece will allow direct flights from Britain and Sweden as of July 15 and July 22 respectively, and that it is even considering permitting arrivals from the United States at the end of the month, depending on developments with the pandemic and provided travelers can show a negative coronavirus test conducted up to 72 hours prior to their arrival. In the event that numbers spike again, the government is prepared to impose fresh restrictions, Petsas said.

Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, received an anonymous bomb threat on Tuesday, July 14.

According to local media, emergency services arrived immediately after the anonymous message. Currently, the airport is being checked for explosive devices.

At least nine flights are delayed due to investigations.

Ryanair is axing 1,000 flights as it cuts its Ireland-U.K. schedule.

The flights affected are in August and September.

The airline has blamed Irish travel restriction for the cancellations.

Ireland has maintained a blanket 14-day quarantine restriction on all arrivals from EU countries.

Airline TUI have announced that they are to restart flights from Bristol Airport to destinations in Spain and Greece.

Bristol Live report that the company will start flights from Bristol from July 25.

Then, from August 1, they will operate from nine more U.K. airports - flying to 24 destinations.

The destinations that TUI will be serving from Bristol, include: Menorca, Malaga, Alicante, Reus, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Zakynthos.

Delta Air Lines posted its worst loss since 2008, and it warned that bookings are declining as COVID-19 cases rise, forcing the airline to trim its schedule again.

The company had planned to add 1,000 flights a day to its August schedule as Delta (DAL) and other airlines reported a modest pickup in bookings for June and July. Although Delta initially added 1,000 flights a day to its August schedule, CEO Ed Bastian confirmed it will now add only 500 as rising coronavirus cases in southern states and quarantine rules on travelers to the Northeast were put in place.

Liege Airport has remained very active during the whole COVID-19 pandemic for freight traffic. The story was quite different for passenger flights. Grounded since 20 March following the COVID-19 epidemic, the flights of tour operator TUI will resume from Friday, 17 July, with a leitmotiv: the health of all.

TUI fly Belgium will offer vacationers 11 destinations in four countries to choose from, namely Spain, Turkey, Greece and Morocco.

Thailand suspended all inbound flights Tuesday after an Egyptian soldier skipped self-quarantine and went to a shopping mall before testing positive for COVID-19.

The kingdom has not recorded a domestic case of the virus for 50 days, winning praise for its strict lock down which has so far controlled infections.

The country had been gingerly reopening its airspace, hoping to use the low virus rates to tease back visitors to an economy flat lined by the collapse of tourism.

But all inbound flights will be stopped after the group of Egyptian soldiers entered via the military-controlled U-Tapao airport, in Rayong province, without any virus screening.

They were meant to self-quarantine at a hotel before flying out the next day but instead went to a nearby shopping mall. One soldier in the group later tested positive for the disease.

Authorities are now scrambling to trace around 1,700 people at the mall and the surrounding area.

Event: Air Djibouti will begin offering regular passenger flights between Djibouti and Aden, Yemen, on July 17, 2020. These are not U.S. government-sponsored or coordinated flights, and U.S. citizens who wish to depart Yemen should work directly with the airline to purchase tickets.

All passengers entering or transiting Djibouti will be tested upon arrival for COVID-19 by the Djiboutian Ministry of Health. Passengers who test positive for COVID-19 will enter Djiboutian Government isolation centers, or will be deported.

Air France and Ethiopian Airlines will have regular flights departing Djibouti after July 17, and U.S. citizens who wish to depart Djibouti should purchase tickets directly from a commercial airline.

To purchase tickets from Aden to Djibouti, U.S. citizens should contact Air Djibouti directly. Contact information for the Air Djibouti office in Aden is listed below:

Air Djibouti Office
Maalla Street Building
Maala Plaza
Aden, Yemen
+967 2 247603
+967 2 245632

Upcoming Air Djibouti flights from Aden to Yemen are not coordinated by the U.S. government, and passengers should work directly with the airline to arrange travel.

NARITA, CHIBA PREF. – The operator of Narita International Airport said Tuesday that it will reopen one of its two runways that has been closed since April due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Narita International Airport Corp. will reopen the 2,500-meter Runway B on July 22, ahead of the nation's four-day holiday that starts the following day.

The airport operator closed the runway April 12 after both international and domestic flight passengers decreased sharply due to the coronavirus outbreak.

However, since the government lifted the state of emergency over the virus in late May, low-cost carriers have gradually resumed operations of domestic flight services.

The airport is thus hoping to reopen Runway B to meet an expected increase in demand during the four-day holiday and the Bon summer holiday period in mid-August.

Emirates has announced it will offer flights for passengers to/from Brussels Airport starting 17 July. The airline is scheduled to operate four weekly flights from Brussels to Dubai and beyond, utilizing its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to carry passengers and some air cargo. Customers can also connect through Dubai to select destinations in Asia Pacific. Travel restrictions remain in place in most countries, customers are reminded to check entry and exit requirements before their journeys.

The reopening of Sri Lanka’s Colombo International Airport has been delayed indefinitely, after repatriation flights were suspended due to a spike in Covid-19 infections last week.

This marks the second postponement of the reopening of the country’s main international airport, after authorities announced last month that its initial August 1 reopening would be pushed to mid-August to focus on the repatriation of the tens of thousands of Sri Lankans stranded abroad.

Over 300 Covid-19 cases were detected last Friday at a drug rehabilitation center in Sri Lanka’s North Central province, prompting authorities to close schools for a week starting Monday (July 13) – just a week after selected classes were allowed to resume – while contact tracing is being conducted since some center officials had gone home and may have infected others.

Repatriation flights operated by SriLankan Airlines will be suspended from Tuesday (July 14) as quarantine centers are running out of space after the surge in Covid-19 cases, many of whom are Sri Lankan returnees serving a mandatory 14-day quarantine at government-designated facilities.

Tourism and aviation minister Prasanna Ranatunga told reporters: “We cannot give an exact date for the reopening of the airport. The top priority of the government is to contain the spread of Covid-19 and to repatriate Sri Lankans still stranded in various parts of the world.” The repatriation process will resume once the spike in new clusters is controlled, he added.

The government has said that the airport, closed to commercial traffic, will reopen only after all or most of the Sri Lankans stranded abroad have been brought back.

To date, nearly 15,000 stranded Lankans from 65 counties have returned, out of 50,000 citizens awaiting flights home, according to government figures. Sri Lanka has reported 2,617 Covid-19 cases as of July 13, with 1,981 recoveries and 11 deaths.

MANILA - AirAsia said Tuesday it would resume select international flights as air travel in parts of the world gradually returns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement released on its website, the low-cost carrier said it would resume flights to and from Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand in July and August.

AirAsia said it would also increase the frequency of domestic flights as the Philippine government further eased restrictions.

AirAsia reminded passengers that domestic flight services would be temporarily moved to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 from its previous location at Terminal 4.

"Guests can expect enhanced safety measures throughout the entire journey, including pre-flight, in-flight, and arrival processes," the carrier said.

"These include the mandatory wearing of face masks to be permitted to travel, among others. Guests are also advised to check and comply with measures implemented by local airport authorities for a smooth travel experience."

Turkish Airlines will restore operations to Montenegro this week. The airline will resume flights between Istanbul and Podgorica this Thursday, July 16. Services will initially run three times per week, each Monday, Thursday and Sunday. The Turkish carrier has restored the majority of its destination network in the former Yugoslavia, with Dubrovnik being the only city yet to be reinstated.

It has just been announced that easyJet will resume limited flights between Gibraltar, London Gatwick and Manchester.

The Manchester flights will initially be on Mondays and Fridays with the first arrival being on July 20.

The London Gatwick flights are scheduled for Sundays and Thursdays with this service commencing on July 25.

Japanese airline All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA) revealed Tuesday (July 14) its plan to resume flights between Taiwan and Japan starting Aug 3, as Tokyo gradually eases restrictions on air travel.

DUBAI, July 14 (Reuters) - Oman will start allowing its citizens to fly outside the country, but they must apply with authorities to do so and quarantine upon their return, state television reported on Tuesday.

Oman TV also said on its Twitter account that the Gulf Arab state had decided to maintain a lock down on two regions, Dhofar and Masirah, without specifying for how long.

The sultanate has been gradually easing coronavirus restrictions that were imposed in March. Oman TV did not specify when Omani citizens would be able to travel abroad.

Location: Pakistan (country-wide)

Event: Update #49 – New Medical Requirements for Boarding Flights

Several airlines have announced that passengers departing from Pakistan will need to complete a COVID test before departure.

Emirates announced that effective July 10, outbound passengers from Pakistan must carry a negative PCR certificate issued by a local government approved laboratory to be accepted on the flight. Certificates must be issued no more than 96 hours before departure. Emirates did not provide a list of authorized laboratories.

Etihad required a negative test within 72 hours of flight departure.

Qatar Airways announced that as of July 13, outbound passengers from Pakistan must present a negative test result issued within less than 72 hours of departure. Children under 12 are exempted from the test if accompanied by family members.Passengers must sign a consent form authorizing the laboratory to directly share the test result with Qatar Airways for authentication. Qatar advises passengers to visit any of the following authorized laboratories below to undergo a medical test at their own expense:

Excel Laboratories (Tel: +92 300 0506380, E-mail: faran@excel-labs.com)
Agha Khan Laboratories (Tel: +92 34930051 Ext.: 2130, E-mail: sohail.baloch@aku.edu)
IDC Laboratories (Tel: +92 343 8530054, E-mail: medical@idc.net.pk)
Essa Labs (Tel.: +92 (21) 36626125 - 26, E-mail: info@essalab.com)
The inability to provide the above-mentioned medical requirements will result in passengers not being able to proceed with flight boarding.

The Austrian authorities have issued a ban on passenger air travel from nine Southeast European (SEE) states due to the coronavirus spread, Bulgarian media reported on Tuesday.

The ban on passenger flights from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, N. Macedonia, Romania and Serbia will enter into force on July 15 and will remain in force until July 31, Bulgarian public radio BNR said in a report.

All Nippon Airways said Tuesday that the Japanese carrier will operate 88 percent of its planned domestic flights in August.

The proportion will be increased to 95 percent on Aug. 7-17, when demand is expected to grow.

In July, only 50 percent of ANA's domestic flights will operate as a result of the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, ANA will cancel 90 percent of its planned international flights in August as travel restrictions remain in place around the world amid the pandemic. The proportion is unchanged from July.

Turkmenistan, the only country in Central Asia that has not officially registered any coronavirus cases within its borders, has suspended the operation of passenger trains amid reports of COVID-19 infections across the tightly controlled energy-rich nation.

Turkmen Railways issued a statement on its website that all trains will be suspended from July 16 to July 23 without giving any detailed explanation.

Although Turkmenistan has not officially registered any coronavirus cases, RFE/RL correspondents reported that local hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients with pneumonia symptoms, some of whom, including medical personnel, have died.

In neighboring Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Asqar Mamin, announced on July 14 that a second two-week coronavirus lockdown introduced on July 5 has been extended until August 2.