The Trump administration on Thursday said air travellers should wear face coverings like masks and announced a series of other guidelines aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 in air travel. Major US airlines require air travellers to wear masks onboard flights and have recently warned travellers that they will refuse service to customers who don’t comply, with a few exceptions like medical issues. “Airlines and airports are strongly encouraged to require that everyone correctly wear a mask or cloth face covering in shared spaces,” with a few exceptions such as medical issues or when eating or drinking, federal officials said in their guidelines. “Wearing a mask or cloth face covering is particularly necessary any time social distancing cannot be maintained.” They also called for airlines to collect passenger health declarations as well as contact information to aid government disease-tracing efforts. The recommendations were jointly issued by the Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. <br/>
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The UK government is about to lift compulsory self-isolation for travellers from low-risk destinations to England starting next week. Most travellers arriving in the country, even national citizens, had been forced to quarantine for two weeks since early June. At the time, the government argued that this was to contain the spread of the virus. However, the compulsory quarantine sparked strong opposition from airlines, with some even taking legal steps to challenge the move. Spain, Germany, France and Italy are on the list of countries that will be exempted from quarantine starting Monday. The full list of countries will be released later on Friday, but media reports suggest it could include up to 75 nations. The list will be reviewed regularly and is based on epidemiological numbers. The move provides some relief for airlines and airports as it will likely encourage more people to take a vacation this summer. It is also positive for the tourism industry in places such as Spain and Italy, given how important UK visitors to these markets.<br/>
Cairo International Airport on Thursday night received five flights from France, UK, Italy, Belgium and Lebanon, carrying 801 visitors on the third day of Egypt’s resumption of international flights amid the coronavirus crisis. The flight from Paris carried 131 passengers, the second from Belgium carries 125 passengers, the third carried 118 people from Italy, while the fourth and fifth carried 139 people and 289 visitors from London and Beirut respectively. Late in June, Tourism Minister Khaled Al-Enani on his Instagram account said Egypt is prepared to welcome tourists back. “With its beautiful sandy beaches, its warm sun and crystal blue waters, Egypt is ready to welcome tourists back” in the three governorates, Enani said.<br/>
Two Hong Kong health experts have called for tighter Covid-19 testing arrangements for airline and cruise ship crews, after a pilot who returned from overseas was confirmed as having the coronavirus. The 54-year-old cargo pilot, who had been to Kazakhstan and Turkey, was among 11 imported cases recorded on Saturday. He was exempted under the current law from coronavirus testing and quarantine but went to a private doctor after his return and tested positive for the virus. The city has been hit by a surge of imported coronavirus cases recently. The latest imported cases – which also involved people arriving from Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt and the Philippines – would bring the tally of infections to 1,258. Hong Kong has now gone three weeks without local transmission of Covid-19, with zero infections recorded on Saturday. Under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, aircraft crew members who need to commute to and from foreign places to perform their duties, as well as workers on goods vessels and passenger ships are exempt from compulsory quarantine arrangements. Saliva tests are not compulsory either. Dr David Hui Shu-cheong, a government adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, said some of these exemptions should be reviewed. “We should at least collect deep throat saliva samples when crews arrive in Hong Kong,” he said.<br/>
Thailand's main international airport unveiled rapid coronavirus tests on Friday for some overseas arrivals after a three-month ban on foreign visitors was partially lifted this month. All foreigners, except those with work permits, have been barred since March, but after more than five weeks with no recorded community transmission of the virus, Thailand is allowing in some groups of foreigners. Business travellers, diplomats and government guests staying for less than 14 days are considered "fast track travellers" who will be swab tested for the disease at Suvarnabhumi airport to make ensure they are infection-free before entry. "The test itself takes around one hour and a half," said Suwich Thammapalo, an official of Thailand's disease control department, adding that its use could be expanded in future for other arrivals and tourists. The airport test, costing 3,000 baht ($96) each, is one requirement for fast-track entry without spending 14 days in quarantine, and is required of other foreigners recently allowed in, ranging from those with resident status or family in the country, as well as international students.<br/>
Malaysia's Senior Minister (Security) Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Friday urged airlines to bring down flight ticket prices to levels before the country enforced its movement curbs in March. Datuk Seri Ismail said the Transport Ministry and the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) have been tasked to discuss with the airline companies to return air ticket prices back to "normal". He said the decision was taken during a special ministerial meeting that coordinates the implementation of the movement control order (MCO), as they were aware of the high domestic ticket prices between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak. "In the beginning, the air ticket prices were high because they (airline companies) could not accept full seating capacity due to social distancing measures. The maximum passengers they could accept was just 66%. "But now we have allowed airline companies to operate at full capacity without social distancing measures," he said. Ismail urged the airline companies to return ticket prices to normal levels especially for students, teachers, and higher education institute students who will be resuming their studies.<br/>
The next challenge for bringing Boeing’s 737 MAX jets back into service is slated to play out as early as this week, with another government test flight assessing the safety of software fixes. Called an operational readiness review, it is among a series of test flights anticipated over the next several weeks featuring federal pilots along with airline crews from around the world, all intended to vet changes to the fleet’s flight-control system, according to people familiar with the details. Among the goals of the impending airborne checks and ground-simulator sessions is to determine how well average airline pilots globally will be able to handle emergencies using the revised software. The coming test is a previously scheduled follow-up to three days of formal certification flight tests performed by Boeing and Federal Aviation Administration pilots last week. If all goes well, the FAA order that grounded the planes in March of 2019 is expected to be lifted in September. Once pilot-training mandates are finalized and maintenance requirements are completed, government and industry officials familiar with the process envision the MAX fleet being authorized to carry passengers around the end of the year.<br/>
Domestic airlines in China rolled out ticket discount packages under the banner of "fly at will" one after another recently, in the hope of recouping money and boosting consumption affected by Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. These packages priced at around 3,000 yuan (US$424.59) allow passengers to book a domestic flight (except for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) for free and without limitation of time slot and number of journeys in a given period of time. China Eastern, the first air carrier that launched "fly at will" weekend package said, as of June 24, more than 100,000 tickets had been bought by package buyers, most of which were for the Duanwu Festival holidays from June 25 to 27 or for weekends in July. The package of China Eastern will be valid until the end of the year. China Express launched a similar "fly at will" ticket package on June 23, five days after the China Eastern Airlines', according to its Weibo account.However, only medical workers and new clients of the carrier are qualified to purchase such tickets. China Express said on its Weibo account that it saw the package as a "testing waters" but it had gave the airlines a 3m yuan cashflow. Following the moves, Hainan Airlines announced its version of "fly at will" on July 1. <br/>