News

Australia not to extend current ban on cruise ships beyond April 17

Australia said on Tuesday it would lift its entry ban for international cruise ships next month, effectively ending all major COVID- related travel bans after two years and boosting a tourism industry hit hard by the pandemic restrictions. The federal government said it would not renew the current ban beyond April 17 as the country begins to live with the coronavirus after reaching higher vaccination levels. Last month, Australia fully reopened its airports to vaccinated international travellers. Before the pandemic, Australia welcomed more than 600,000 cruise ship passengers across its ports from almost 350 vessels in 2019, according to official data, a major source of revenue for the country's A$60 billion ($43 billion) tourism industry. "I can't wait to see our cruise terminals once again filled with arriving international passengers, getting this important industry ship-shape and back out on the water once more," Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews said in a statement. The further ease in restrictions come amid the threat from the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron coronavirus strain, which authorities have warned could double daily infections in the next four to six weeks. Despite calls from health experts to reintroduce some curbs, including making masks mandatory in indoor venues, Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the weekend said the country was ready to live with COVID-19 as though it were the common flu. More than 31,000 new cases and 21 deaths have been reported by Tuesday afternoon, with South Australia and the Northern Territory due to report. Australia's total tally stands at just over 3.2 million confirmed cases and 5,612 deaths.

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All Visa Centres Of DUdigital to be operational from 1st April 2022

DUdigital Global Limited (formerly Known as Du Digital Technologies Limited) (DU Digital), one of the leading players in visa processing will once again start operating its all 35 Visa centres in India and other countries like UAE, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka after more than 2 years due to Covid-19 pandemic. DUdigital Global Limited started its operations in the year 2015 as an outsourcing and technology solution specialist for Governments and diplomatic missions. The company manages non-administrative and nonjudgmental tasks related to visas, passports, identity management and other applicants and the technical visa processing units of the Embassy of the Country for which we are awarded the contract or sub-contracts. Although essential travel to all these countries was open but normal travel was restricted. To cater to this company was operating through the limited centres. Greece had lifted travel restrictions in December 2021 but the restrictions to Malaysia were still in place which will be lifted from the 1st April 2022. As all major client governments of the company are lifting travel restrictions the company has decided to start operating all its Visa processing centres. Commenting on this, Rajinder Rai, Chairman of the Company, said, "This is a very big moment for the company after the hibernation of almost 2 years we will be operating at full capacity. This will provide a much-needed financial are popular Travel and Business destinations for Indians. For FY23 we are expecting to see multifold growth in our financial performance and hope to be at par or exceed our pre-pandemic performance." Dudigital Global Limited (Formerly known as Du Digital Technologies Limited) started its operations in the year 2015 as an outsourcing and technology solutions specialist for governments and diplomatic missions. The company manages administrative and non-judgmental tasks related to visas, passport, identity management, and other citizen services. The Company manages the human interface between the visa applicant and the technical visa processing unit of the embassy of the country for which we are awarded the contract or subcontract. The company's role is administrative document verification and biometric data collection for its customers. This, in turn, enables the respective government authorities to focus entirely on the critical task of assessment. Apart from this, Dudigial also provides citizenship and residency programs by investment for various countries in association with partner Migrate World.

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San Francisco Travel opens Covid Testing Center at Moscone Center for visitors and residents

San Francisco Travel Association, the official destination marketing organisation for the City and County of San Francisco opened a dedicated COVID-19 testing facility at Moscone Center to provide visitors, meeting attendees, and residents quick and easy access to affordable testing seven days a week. Located in the heart of the city, the San Francisco Travel COVID Testing Center provides testing daily from 8 am to 1 pm. Testing hours can be expanded based on demand or to cater to attendees of mega-events in the city. Operated by RokketMed, a certified COVID testing provider, the center offers rapid antigen tests for $40 and rapid PCR tests for $150. Formal documentation for international travel or access to venues requiring proof of a negative COVID test is provided upon request at no additional charge. “By opening a COVID testing center, we are making it easier for travellers and meeting attendees to get convenient and affordable testing and for international travellers to meet travel requirements to return home,” said Joe D’Alessandro, the president and CEO of San Francisco Travel. “We are focused on driving tourism recovery, and this center helps remove a potential barrier for visitors to San Francisco.” San Francisco Travel is believed to be the first DMO in the U.S. to provide visitors and city residents access to COVID testing. “As a company dedicated to removing friction in accessing healthcare, RokketMed is thrilled to be partnering with SF Travel and the City of San Francisco to welcome back visitors and tourists safely. Providing affordable, and easily accessible COVID testing for visitors will set San Francisco apart as a destination,” said Tracy Baldwin, founder and CEO of RokketMed. The San Francisco COVID Testing Center is located on the ground floor of Moscone Center at 749 Howard Street. Testing takes less than five minutes, and results are texted or emailed; formal supporting documentation for the test result is provided upon request. The rapid antigen test provides results in 10 minutes or less, and the rapid PCR results take 30 minutes. Certified or licensed healthcare professionals will administer tests. Appointments are recommended but not required and can be booked online.

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UK to end all COVID-19 travel restrictions from March 18

The UK government will remove all remaining restrictions on international travel for all passengers ahead of the Easter holidays, the Transport Secretary announced today. As one of the first major economies to remove all its remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, this is a landmark moment for passengers and the travel and aviation sector. From 4am Friday 18 March, all COVID-19 travel restrictions will be lifted, including the passenger locator form (PLF) for arrivals into UK, as well as all tests for passengers who do not qualify as vaccinated. This change, therefore, removes the need for unvaccinated passengers to take a pre-departure test and a day 2 post arrival test. This step reflects the decisions taken by the government, as set out in the Living with COVID plan, and the success of the UK’s vaccine and booster rollout, with 86 per cent of the population having received a second dose and 67 per cent of the population with a booster or third dose. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said, “The UK is leading the world in removing all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, and today’s announcement is a testament to the hard work everyone in this country has put in place to roll out the vaccine and protect each other. “I said we wouldn’t keep travel measures in place for any longer than necessary, which we’re delivering on today – providing more welcome news and greater freedom for travellers ahead of the Easter holidays. “I look forward to continuing to work with the travel sector and partners around the world to keep international travel moving.” Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said, “We will continue monitoring and tracking potential new variants and keep a reserve of measures that can be rapidly deployed if needed to keep us safe. We can remove these final restrictions thanks to the incredible success of our vaccination programme, which has seen more than 8 out of 10 adults across the UK boosted.” In future, the government’s default approach will be to use the least stringent measures, if appropriate, to minimise the impact on travel as far as possible – given the high personal, economic and international costs border measures can have – and the contingency measures will only be implemented in extreme circumstances. Given the current state of the pandemic and a move towards global travel volumes returning to normal, the remaining managed hotel quarantine capacity will be fully stood down from the end of March. Additionally, UKHSA will continue to closely monitor the prevalence and spread of harmful variants and keep international data under review. While there will be no border health measures on arrival in the UK from 18 March, other countries are at different stages in the pandemic and many still require passengers to comply with requirements.

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SpiceJet to launch 60 new domestic flights this summer

SpiceJet on Monday said that it will launch 60 new domestic flights this summer. The summer schedule starts from March 27 and ends on October 29. In a statement, the airline said that it will launch eight industry-first flights, which will operate on the Gorakhpur-Kanpur, Gorakhpur Varanasi, JaipurDharamshala and Tirupati-Shirdi sectors, in the summer schedule. "The airline has added 60 new domestic flights to its schedule, including seven UDAN flights, eight industry-first flights, new connections and additional frequencies," it said. Under the UDAN scheme, financial incentives from the Centre, state governments and airport operators are extended to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and underserved airports, and keep airfares affordable. Indian carriers have increased their domestic services by 10.1 per cent to 25,309 weekly flights in the upcoming summer schedule as compared to 22,980 last season, aviation regulator DGCA had said last Friday.

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Airfares are expected to fall by 40 percent in the coming months

After the Government of India’s decision to increase the number of flights, and restart regular international air travel from March 27 onwards, it is being said that airfares are most likely to fall by 40 percent. This, according to industry executives. As of now, travel has begun to pick up after two years of COVID induced lockdowns, and restrictions. Airlines across the world are planning to increase their number of flights, expecting travel trends to pick up this year. Lufthansa Airlines, and its group carrier Swiss International Air Lines, have decided to almost double flights in the coming months. Singapore Airlines too might increase flights by 17 percent, as per its executives. In India, domestic airline company IndiGo is hoping to resume its services with 100 global flights in the next few months. India has been operating flights under the air bubble programmes that it has with other countries, since it has banned all regular international flights. Airfares in the past couple of months have skyrocketed since there is a limited capacity in airlines around the world. On some routes, the airfares went up to 100 percent higher. Industry experts are of the view that by suspending regular international flights, we have a demand-supply imbalance at hand. International travel therefore has been very expensive under the air bubble arrangements. Now with airlines going back to normal, air ticket prices are set to decrease.

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