MALDIVES: President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has announced that Maldives will re-open its borders for international tourists on July 15th. Resorts, liveaboards and hotels located on uninhabited islands will be allowed to resume business. However, guest houses and hotels located at inhabited islands will have to wait until August 1st. Maldives relies heavily on the tourism industry as it accounts for the largest foreign exchange earnings, making it the biggest economic contributor in the country. However, the sector has come to a standstill due to the stringent public health measures taken to curb Covid-19. The tourism industry has been gearing up…
Author: holidayweekly
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has written to foreign missions and global regulatory, aviation, safety bodies including largest global airlines body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), assuring them it has grounded all 141 pilots suspected of obtaining licenses through unfair means, the carrier’s spokesman said on Saturday. The move looks to assuage safety concerns after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that the government had asked various commercial airlines, flying clubs and charter companies to ground a total of 262 pilots until investigations into their qualifications are completed. The action was prompted by a preliminary report on the crash…
DUBAI: The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCCA) has announced a temporary suspension of flights from Pakistan amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country. As of June 29. The UAE will not receive passengers coming from Pakistan until a special Covid-19 lab is set up to test them, the aviation authority said in a statement, which was shared on Twitter by UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA). The GCCA said that passengers on all flights from Pakistan, including transit ones, will not be received at UAE airports. The authority urged passengers who are affected the…
BRUSSELS: The European Union is ready to bar most travelers from the United States, Russia, and dozens of other countries considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak, E.U. officials said on Friday, June 27. Pakistan can also face similar restrictions from international community in coming days. [huge_it_slider id=”556″] By contrast, travelers from more than a dozen countries that are not overwhelmed by the coronavirus are set to be welcomed when the bloc reopens after months of lockdown on July 1. The acceptable countries also include China, but only if China allows European Union travelers to visit…
DUBAI: Emirates has decided to resume its passenger services in seven countries, including Pakistan, from 30th June 2020. An official statement has been released which mentioned, “We are pleased to announce the resumption of passenger services from Pakistan on 30th June.” Passengers using Emirates for traveling out of Pakistan will be required to go through the Covid-19 PCR test. According to details, Emirates will relaunch flights Khartoum from July 3; Osaka from July 7; Narita from July 8; and Athens, Larnaca and Rome from July 5. The airline will fly to 48 destinations. The airlines have previously reopened routes including…
CAIRO: Egypt has announced plans to resume both domestic and international flights next month with countries that have opened their airports, said a report. All airports in the country would reopen on July 1, said a report citing Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar. Egypt had earlier suspended international flights from March 19 as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of Covid-19. Egypt said Thursday that foreign tourists would be allowed to return to coastal resorts like Sharm El-Sheikh in July. Flights would be offering dry food and canned drinks only, Manar said. Printed publications and magazines on board would…
WASHINGTON: American Airlines said on Friday, June 26, that it will no longer restrict the number of seats sold on flights beginning July 1, in an effort to come back from the impact of the coronavirus. The announcement comes before a meeting between the Chief Executives of major U.S. airlines, including American, and senior U.S. officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, at the White House to discuss several virus-related travel issues. U.S. airlines are bleeding cash as travel suffers in the pandemic and have warned that capping seats sold on each flight to allow for more space between passengers is…
GENEVE: IATA has highlighted research findings that quarantine effectively shuts down passenger demand for air travel, and is urging governments to adopt a variety of alternative measures to minimise the risk of importing coronavirus via infected passengers. The airline association’s proposed framework consists of measures to prevent sick people from traveling and to mitigate the risk of transmission should a passenger discover they have Covid-19 after their arrival. “Imposing quarantine measures on arriving travellers keeps countries in isolation and the travel and tourism sector in lockdown,” says IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac. “Fortunately, there are policy alternatives that can…
DUBAI: The popular Emirates A380 aircraft will begin serving travellers on flights to London Heathrow and Paris starting from July 15. This marks the return of Emirates’ flagship aircraft on scheduled services since the pandemic forced the temporary grounding of the airline’s passenger fleet in March. Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer, said: “The A380 remains a popular aircraft amongst our customers and it offers many unique on-board features. We are delighted to bring it back into the skies to serve our customers on flights to London and Paris from July 15, and we are gradually looking forward to…
Written by Abbas Sarwar Qureshi Member of Pakistan Foreign Service Posted at Paris He has served in Syria and Saudi Arabia also The world is on pins and needles, waiting for the magical drug to step into a post-Covid era leaving an awful chapter written in pain, sorrow and fear behind. A coveted slot next to Louis Pasteur, Edward Wright and Green Morton is vacant for another Messiah who would rescue millions from horrible lockdowns and thousands more from being ended up on ventilators. In the absence of an effective vaccine, however, nations have been relying on lockdowns and confinements…