Thailand said on Friday it will scrap a mandatory pre-departure coronavirus test for visitors starting next month but will still require entry registrations in advance and an on-arrival test. Known for its nightlife and beach destinations, Thailand has sought to revive its pandemic-battered tourism sector by being among the first in the region to ease travel restrictions. FILE PHOTO: A man rides a horse at Cha-Am Beach, amid the coranavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Phetchaburi province, Thailand, December 25, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo The measures saw arrival numbers tick up to nearly 134,000 in January this year from about 7,700 in the same month in 2021 - a year in which the Southeast Asian country received just 0.5% of pre-pandemic arrivals. But bu...
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The passengers travelling from India to Dubai will no longer need to undergo a Covid RT-PCR test at the departure airports. Until recently, the passengers were supposed to take the test at the departure airports within six hours of the flight. FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of Dubai from Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, in Dubai. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah According to Khaleej Times, the new guidelines issued by the Dubai Airport has removed this requirement for travellers from four countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. According to the circular, effective February 22, passengers from these nations need a negative result of a RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours of travel. They also need to undergo a PCR test on arrival in Dubai. Passengers are requi...
Read MoreFully vaccinated passengers arriving in England from low-risk countries from Oct. 24 will no longer have to take expensive COVID-19 tests, the British government said on Thursday. Last month the government simplified the rules for international travel to England in a boost to the tourism industry, which has blamed the testing and complicated rules for the slowness of a recovery in air travel over the summer. FILE PHOTO: A worker sanitises a barrier at the International arrivals area of Terminal 5 in London's Heathrow Airport, Britain, August 2, 2021. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls The government said that from Oct. 24, the start of school half-term holidays across much of England, fully vaccinated passengers and most under 18s arriving from countries not on the red list could take a late...
Read MoreThe United Arab Emirates said it will resume issuing tourist visas to vaccinated travellers from Aug. 30, the state news agency (WAM) reported on Saturday. The decision also covered people coming in from countries from which the UAE had previously barred entry, WAM reported. In those cases, visitors would have to take a COVID-19 test on arrival, it added. FILE PHOTO: Passengers keep distance in a line at Dubai International Airport, as Emirates airline resumed limited outbound passenger flights amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Dubai, UAE. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah The move comes amid a drop in coronavirus infections in the oil-rich Gulf country, after it reported less than 1,000 cases per day last week for the first time in months, and a month before Dubai ...
Read MoreWider test acceptance welcomed as major step towards return of international travel
While it is still going to take months, if not years before COVID vaccination effect is noticed in larger part of the world, travel industry by large has been advocating pre-departure tests as a safer means to resumption of international travel. Now recent announcements in UK and US have been largely welcomed as a positive step in this direction. Travel without quarantine is deemed to be a major push towards recovery of brutally bruised travel industry and recent announcements pave the way for it. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the announcement by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that it will require all travelers to the US to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test undertaken within three days prior to their departure to th...
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