LONDON (Reuters) -The British government will on Friday consider easing England’s COVID-19 rules for international travel, a late-season boost for airlines, holiday and tourism companies which say they will not survive another winter of onerous rules and red tape.

While Europe has relaxed travel restrictions for the fully vaccinated, expensive COVID-19 testing requirements remain in place for fully vaccinated arrivals into Britain, preventing a travel recovery as the tougher winter period nears.

But a rule change could be announced later on Friday.

“The COVID sub-committee of cabinet that decides these things will be considering that probably later today,” Agriculture Secretary George Eustice told Sky News.

Airports, airlines and travel companies have warned the government of more job losses if it does not scrap the private testing and so-called traffic light system which ranks destinations as green, amber and red.

“There are hundreds of businesses out there who will not survive this winter unless changes are made,” TUI UK managing director Andrew Flintham told Sky News on Friday.

According to reports, the government will remove the requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to take a lateral flow test before departing their destination and a costly PCR test on their return into Britain, which can add hundreds of pounds per person to a trip.

Ministers will also simplify the destination categories into either low or high risk, scrapping amber, reported the Times newspaper, with many countries, including popular destination Turkey, expected to be removed from the high risk red list.

Flintham said any new system would be better than the current set-up.

“It will improve if we move anywhere away from the draconian measures that we really are using at the moment,” he said.

Data shows that Britain’s recovery is lagging. UK flights were down 39% compared to pre-pandemic levels for the two weeks to early Sept. 6, while France, Spain and Italy were down between 24-28%, according to Eurocontrol.

On Britain’s red list there are currently 62 countries, a designation that requires 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of more than 2000 pounds. Quarantine hotels are expected to remain in place for red list arrivals.

Any change to the travel rules will apply to England, but devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland could later follow suit. More than 135,000 people in Britain have died in the pandemic.

($1 = 0.7247 pounds)

(Reporting by Costas Pitas, Guy Faulconbridge and Sarah Young, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Copyright 2021 Thomson Reuters.

Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe/Kampala) is to debut its first intercontinental flights – to Dubai Int’l – on October 1, 2021, using its pair of A330-800Ns.

According to its social media posts, the flight from Entebbe/Kampala will take place three times weekly. Flight UR444 is scheduled to depart Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays, according to the ch-aviation schedules module. It has been timed ahead of the start of the World Expo hosted by Dubai from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

Acting chief executive Jennifer Bamuturaki previously said the target market would be business travellers and migrant workers travelling to the Middle East.

It will be the airline’s first commercial flight out of Africa. Initially planned for July 16, 2021, the inaugural flight was twice rescheduled due to delays caused by COVID-19 travel restrictions and regulatory delays in the certification of the two A330s. They were delivered from Airbus in December 2020 and January 2021 respectively and were supposed to have entered international service in March 2021. As reported, Uganda Airlines eventually managed to add the two A330-800Ns – 5X-CRN (msn 1979) and 5X-NIL (msn 1977) – to its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in August 2021, allowing it to plan for flights to Dubai, to be followed by services to London Heathrow, Mumbai Int’l, and Guangzhou. Bamuturaki previously said the airline is hoping to start flights to London in November 2021, pending its removal from the UK COVID-19 red list.

The state-owned carrier currently serves 10 regional cross-border routes including Bujumbura in Burundi; Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar in Tanzania; Johannesburg O.R. Tambo in South Africa; Kinshasa N’Djili in the DRC, Mogadishu in Somalia; and Mombasa and Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, according to ch-aviation schedules data.

The four-year-old airline was wracked by controversy earlier this year when its Board and management team, including former chief executive Cornwell Muleya, were removed from office amid allegations of mismanagement and corruption. Amongst the allegations were that pilots with less than 500 flying hours on the airline’s four CRJ900LRs were being trained to fly the two A330s.

Source: Ch-aviation

South African Airways will need a more modern fleet to be competitive on routes outside its home continent following the Covid-19 crisis, according to interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo. 

The state-owned airline used to generate revenue on trips to cities such as London and Frankfurt, but its aging Airbus SE planes have prohibitive operating costs, he said in a panel discussion on Wednesday.

“If we get the right fleet for those particular trips we should be able to minimize costs and become competitive,” Kgokolo said. 

SAA is set to restart operations next week after emerging from bankruptcy proceedings, about 18 months after the fleet was grounded at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Flights are set to operate from Johannesburg to Cape Town, plus African capitals Accra, Kinshasa, Harare, Lusaka and Maputo.

The carrier sees high demand on routes to cities elsewhere on the continent, Kgokolo said, as fewer competitors operate those trips. Early booking figures indicate planes may be as much as 75% full, he said. Routes anywhere else will be complicated by ongoing travel restrictions.

Ownership Transfer

The government agreed to transfer a majority stake in the carrier to a local jet-leasing company and private-equity firm in June, though the consortium has yet to complete the transaction more than three months later.

It’s still not a done deal, Kgokolo said. 

“We’re done with due diligence, and negotiations are taking place on the share purchase agreement,” the CEO said. “It can be complex and take time.” 

The group comprising Global Airways, which owns domestic airline Lift, and Harith General Partners has pledged to invest as much as R3.5 billion over the next three years. For now, SAA is solvent, after administrators reduced its workforce by almost 80% and secured a deal with creditors.

SAA currently has an eight-aircraft fleet, Ch-aviation reported last month, made up of five original-generation Airbus A320-series narrow-bodies, an A330 wide-body, and a pair of thirsty four-engine A340s.

Source: Fin24

The tourism industry is eyeing the government’s push to vaccinate 67% of adult South Africans by December as a key point in reopening international travel for the country, says South African Tourism chief executive Sthembiso Dlamini.

Dlamini told radio station 702 that international travellers are far more likely to travel to a country with a high proportion of its population vaccinated. She added that countries with a hypothetical “herd immunity” are far more likely to see a tourism boost.

“All of us are looking us towards the 67% of the adult population having been boosted by December. I think that will be such a big confidence boost for international destinations.” The reality is that vaccination plays a huge role in the sector’s recovery, she said.

“It is frustrating to hear fake news on what the vaccine can or cannot do. I would encourage people to leave it to the professionals, but also to go and vaccinate.”

Health minister Dr Joe Phaahla said on Friday (10 September) that South Africa will need to reach another 18 million more adults to achieve a 70% coverage of the adult population by December.

In a national address on Sunday evening, president Cyril Ramaphosa said that over a quarter of all adult South Africans have received at least one vaccine dose and more than seven million people are fully vaccinated.

“In the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and the Western Cape, more than one in five adults is now fully vaccinated. The total number of vaccine doses administered in the country now stands at 14.6 million doses,” he said.

“We are now administering a million doses every four to five days. Government has secured sufficient vaccines to vaccinate the entire adult population, and the supply of vaccines is no longer a constraint.”

However, Ramaphosa said that the country needs to do much more to reach its intended vaccination targets.

“While everyone aged 18 years and older is eligible to be vaccinated, we are concentrating our efforts and resources on those over 60 years of age and those with co-morbidities. To date, over 57% of persons over 60 years of age have been vaccinated. This is a great achievement, but we need to reach them all.

“We are finding that more women than men are coming forward to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Although the numbers are improving, men are still slow in coming forward to be vaccinated.”

Source: Businesstech

Britain will today decide whether to lift the ban on travellers from Kenya entering the United Kingdom in its latest travel review.

Up to 24 countries, including Kenya, South Africa and Egypt, could be moved from the Red to the Green travel list this week, said several media outlets in the UK.

Travellers arriving in the UK from countries on the Red List will be denied entry while returning Britons must submit to 10 days of mandatory quarantine in hotels.

People coming from Green List countries don’t have to quarantine and have to provide evidence of two negative Covid tests — one before returning to the UK and one on day two.

“We are finally hopeful that the UK will remove Kenya from the ‘Red List’ to the ‘Green List’ tomorrow (today),” said Patrick Amoth, director general at the Ministry of Health in a phone interview.

Travellers from Kenya were banned from entering the UK in April following the spread of the highly contagious Covid-19 Delta variant in the country, dealing a blow to the tourism sector.

The UK has segmented countries into green, amber and red lists, each carrying different degrees of restrictions for arrivals back to the UK.

It is expected to announce changes to the UK traffic light system today in the latest review, amid reports the regime could be scrapped altogether by next month.

“With no new variants of concern since early May, and with the UK having higher levels of Delta infection than most other countries, there is no reason to keep so many countries on the Red List,” Paul Charles, CEO of the PC Agency travel consultancy, was quoted in the British press saying.

The ban on Kenyan travellers came amid fears that the highly contagious Covid-19 Delta variant may spark the fourth wave of infections in Kenya.

Dr Amoth said Kenya has recorded a decline in Covid-19 infections while the number of admissions in health facilities are also falling.

The positivity rate — the proportion of tests coming back positive — climbed sharply by a double-digit from July, raising concerns among health officials.

The rate has dropped from 14.5 percent in August 15 to seven percent yesterday as the government steps up testing and vaccination.

In Kenya, 838,565 people have been fully vaccinated up from 746,267 in August 14 while the number of those who have received the first jab has jumped to 3.19 million from two million over the same period.

The country has received several vaccine donations, including from the UK, and has also procured some, with a target of inoculating 10 million Kenyans by next Christmas.

“We have vaccinated more people compared to when we were placed on the ‘Red List’. Our genomic surveillance and sequencing is also up — so we will be able to pick up any variant in circulation which is of concern,” said Dr Amoth.

Kenya relaxed punitive requirements imposed on British citizens, which required them to undergo 14 days of isolation before entering the country.

In the mid-June review, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said British nationals and non-citizens travelling through London would be required to self-isolate for only seven days.

A decision to remove Kenya from England’s “Red List” will boost the East African nation’s tourism industry that earned Sh91.7 billion last year from Sh163.6 billion in 2019 as the coronavirus pandemic hit one of its biggest foreign exchange-earners.

Britain is one of Kenya’s main trading partners and in 2020 accounted for the fourth largest arrivals through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with the 49,828 accounting for 8.8 percent of all visitors to the country.

Tourist arrivals from the UK stood at 16,264 in the first half of this year from 42,341 in similar period last year.

Source: Business Daily

Expo 2020 Dubai said on Wednesday that entry to the world fair for visitors over 18 years old would be restricted to those who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 or had tested negative in the previous 72 hours.

For months, the state organiser had said visitors would not have to be vaccinated or present a negative COVID-19 test to gain entry to the Expo, which starts on Oct. 1 after a year-long delay caused by the global health crisis.

“We will continue to follow the guidance of the leading science and medical experts, adjusting our measures as appropriate,” Expo 2020 Dubai Director General Reem Al Hashimy said in statement. “This enhanced measure is responsible, agile and necessary as we prepare to open our doors to the world.”

Dubai, which reopened to foreign visitors in July 2020, requires most overseas arrivals to present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flight to the emirate.

Those arriving from certain countries are also tested on arrival.

For the Expo, vaccines recognised by a visitor’s home country will be accepted, while polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 will be offered for free to ticket holders, the organiser said.

Officials have stuck to a pre-pandemic target of 25 million total visitors to pass through the gates of the Expo, more than twice the size of the United Arab Emirates’ roughly 10 million population.

The previous Expo in Milan in 2015 attracted 21.5 million visitors.

The UAE, a federation of seven emirates, is reporting around 600 daily infections, down from a February peak of about 4,000 after foreign tourists flocked to Dubai over the winter.

The government does not disclose where in the country infections are taking place. Face masks remain mandatory in public and capacity restrictions are enforced in public places.

Organisers had already said that all those working at Expo would be fully vaccinated. The country has fully vaccinated 80% of its population, it said.

Source: Reuters

Every school student in the UAE is being offered the chance to experience four curated educational journeys of Expo 2020 Dubai for free, with the Expo School Programme booking system now open to public and private schools throughout the country.

Each journey is a fun, immersive learning experience designed to inspire students of all ages to think critically, communicate effectively and grow intellectually. The four journeys – Legacy of the UAE, World of Opportunities, Sustainable Planet and Universe in Motion – take place across Expo’s three vibrant Thematic Districts (Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability), as well as through various pavilions celebrating the legacy and future of the UAE. Each journey delivers unique learning opportunities aligned with the UAE’s diverse school curricula.

Alya Al-Ali, Vice President, Expo School Programme, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “Today’s young learners are key in building a better future. It is imperative that we empower them with the skills of the future, and engage them in conversations that will make a difference.

“Each of our four journeys offers students a meaningful, educational and fun experience. We aim to inspire them in an immersive and engaging environment where they can explore key drivers of future progress and discover the latest technologies and ideas being showcased across 200-plus pavilions. We encourage every school in the UAE to make the most of these free, fascinating learning opportunities at Expo 2020.”

Reservations, made on the booking system, include entry to Expo 2020, express entry into thematic pavilions, as well as an identification band for students. Expo will also grant complimentary access for accompanying adults, with different ratios, depending on the age group of the students.

Expo 2020 will operate with enhanced health and safety measures for all visitors, in line with the latest information and guidance from local and international authorities, including Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, and the World Health Organization.

To learn more about the Expo School Programme, please visit www.schools.expo2020dubai.com or email schools@expo2020.ae
Expo 2020 Dubai invites visitors from every corner of the globe to join the making of a new world, including the chance to discover a wide range of cultural and artistic initiatives dedicated to broadening horizons and bringing together people, communities and nations.

Source: Government of Dubai

Kenya’s first low-cost airline, Jambojet, started a flight service to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Goma on Friday, it said, looking to tap into a projected jump in demand for air travel in Africa.

The carrier, which was launched in 2014 and is owned by national airline Kenya Airways, expects Africa to become one of the fastest growing regions for aviation in the world in the next two decades, with an average annual expansion of nearly 5%.

“We want to be part of the growth,” said Vincent Rague, Jambojet’s chairman.

Other Kenyan firms, including its biggest banks Equity and KCB Group, are also expanding into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a relatively untapped market.

Jambojet will fly into Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, twice a week from its Nairobi hub, before increasing to four times a week with time.

The carrier operates a fleet of six De Havilland Dash 8-400 planes and currently serves six local destinations from its Nairobi hub, including popular resort towns along the Kenyan coast.

It embarked on an expansion drive three years ago to double the number of passengers it carries annually, but some of those plans were delayed by the onset of the pandemic early last year.

Source: SowetanLIVE

The UK’s traffic light system for international travel might be scrapped from October 1st 2021, according to an insider. It is predicted that rules will be based on a traveller’s vaccination status, rather than the risk level of the country they are returning from.

CEO of the PC Agency – a luxury travel PR firm – Paul Charles tweeted yesterday:

“The traffic light system is expected to be scrapped by 1st Oct – at last. Airlines and some of us in the sector are aware of plans to create a simpler system, where countries are either red or not.

“This would be the US model in effect, which I’ve been calling for.”

What is the UK’s current traffic light system?

For the past few months, the UK has categorised countries as either green, amber or red. Each list comes with different testing and quarantine requirements.

Over summer 2021, the government has updated the lists every three weeks. This has usually involved countries either moving to green or amber, which have the most lenient requirements, or being relegated to red, which requires a 10-day hotel quarantine on arrival.

Are the UK’s rules too strict?

The travel industry called out the UK government ahead of the summer for falling behind the rest of Europe – and the rest of the world – in its return to international travel.

As Charles pointed out on Twitter, “Scrapping of traffic light system would be a relief to pretty well everyone and herald a ‘living with an endemic’ approach, rather than blanket country measures.

“Would be a relief to countries in Africa, South America, Asia which don’t deserve to be red-listed.”

So what’s next for UK travel?

While the UK government has not indicated whether there is any truth to the claims made by Charles, he has correctly predicted travel changes in the past.

Industry leaders think the UK government will adopt a simplified approach, which has been called for since the traffic light system was announced.

As outlined by Charles above, it seems likely that this would exclusively be a ‘red list’. That is, a list of countries whose travellers are banned from entering the UK. This would mean the end of green and amber lists.

We have contacted the UK Cabinet Office for comment.

Source: Euronews

In 2019, Andrew, a Liberian missionary and businessman based in Nigeria could buy a round trip ticket from Lagos to Monrovia at $450-$500. In 2021, that same ticket now costs $650-$700. In addition, Andrew now spends an extra $300, almost 50% of his ticket price, on mandatory Covid-19 tests for a round trip between the two west African cities.

The Covid-19 pandemic greatly affected the aviation industry as lockdowns and restrictions reduced travel. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in 2020, the African aviation industry lost up to $7 billion.

As the pandemic approaches its second year, there is a gradual uptick in regional travel due to the gradual lowering of Covid-19 restrictions. In west Africa, post-lockdown travel came with an increased price regime for tickets that were already expensive, and mandatory Covid-19 tests for international air travel to all west African countries.

Most west African countries do not only require a negative Covid-19 test from a passenger’s country of departure, but also an additional test upon arrival. These tests are paid for by passengers and are usually conducted regardless of vaccination status.

West Africa flight travel was already cumbersome and expensive before Covid

A round trip from Lagos to Dubai can cost $650, which is the same cost for a round trip from Lagos to Monrovia. And while there are direct nonstop flights between Lagos and Dubai, in contrast, there is no direct flight between Lagos and west African cities like Monrovia, Freetown, Dakar, or Banjul.

Flying though still remains the fastest and most effective way of traveling between west African countries due to terrible road conditions and the lack of a region-wide rail system. Despite the fact that visas and visa fees are waived for citizens of the 15-member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), flying remains expensive. Covid-19 has further compounded the issue.

Those enforcing the current double testing regime argue that since Covid-19 tests are usually administered 3-7 days before departure, the additional testing on arrival helps to assure countries that passengers did not contact Covid-19 in that period between testing and travel. In addition, accusations of the issuance of false or fake Covid results for travel in some countries has resulted in a lack of trust in results not issued by the country of arrival.

The cost of a traveler’s Covid-19 test ranges from $40-$100 in most west African countries. For Andrew, this means that his round trip now requires him to pay $200 total for two Covid-19 tests on departure and arrival in Nigeria, and $100 total for two Covid-19 tests upon arrival and departure from Monrovia.

Policies to make it easier to travel between African countries exist, but implementation is low

The high cost of aviation fuel, high taxes, and government policies are among the major reasons why travel within west Africa remains expensive. In 1999, forty-four African states endorsed the “Yamoussoukro Decision” which called for regional air markets to be more open.

In January 2018, the African Union launched the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) to create a single unified air transport market in Africa. The SAATM is largely based on the Yamoussoukro Decision of 1999. The decision was never adequately implemented.

Andrew says “I have projects in Nigeria and Liberia. I used to make three trips a year, but tickets are so expensive now that I only make one trip a year”.

Like Andrew, the cost of Covid-19 tests are expensive for most west Africans. According to the World Bank, in 2020, the gross national income per capita of twelve of the fifteen members of ECOWAS stood at less than $2,300 with eight of the twelve standing at less than $1,300.

Ways of driving down Covid-19 testing costs in the region

While some countries have tried to reduce the number of tests required. For example, arriving passengers to Mali, Niger, and Cote D’ivoire only require a negative Covid test from their country of departure.

Other countries have made efforts to mitigate additional travel costs for passengers by pricing their Covid-19 tests on the lower end of the fee spectrum. Liberia charges $50 for tests for travel to an ECOWAS country as opposed to $80 charged for a test to travel outside west Africa. Similarly, Ghana charges ECOWAS citizens $50 for a test upon arrival in Ghana as opposed to $150 to other nationalities.

Cape Verde also allows flight travel for individuals who can provide a government issued Covid-19 certificate. This certificate consists of a negative test result, a certification of recovery from COVID-19, or a vaccination certificate showing the individual has been fully vaccinated. This measure is in line with a WHO July 2021 policy brief that advised states to remove mandatory testing and quarantine for international travelers who were vaccinated.

In 2020, the African Union launched its Covid-19  passport dubbed travelstart. The passport helps in verifying Covid-19 test certificates and the harmonization of entry and exit screening, especially with the threat of fake medical documentations. However, while countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe have started using the AU covid passport, west african countries have mostly not started using it.

Another effective way of reducing costs while addressing health concerns would be a reduction in the pricing of Covid-19 tests. Currently, molecular PCR tests are widely used, the use of cheaper alternatives could help reduce cost of testing.

UNICEF has announced cheaper rapid tests for as low as $2.55 per test. These rapid tests can also produce results in half an hour. Therefore, testing can be conducted on the day of travel thus eliminating the need of a second test on arrival.

Lastly, an increase in the manufacturing of Covid-19 test kits on the continent could also aid in reducing the cost of test kits. In May 2020, WHO and partners launched the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool to provide a global platform for developers of Covid-19 products to share their intellectual property, and data, with quality-assured manufacturers through public health-driven voluntary, non-exclusive and transparent licenses.

Cheaper air travel costs would be pivotal in increasing trade and travel within the west African region. However, it would be its sovereign nations that would have to make the significant decisions in reducing cost. In the meantime though, the pandemic just made things that much harder for regional travelers.

Source: Quartz Africa