Canada heads a list 11 states or territories that the European Union has added to its list of destinations where it is recommending member states lift restrictions on non-essential travel into the bloc. The move came in the EU’s latest fortnightly update to its list of ‘safe’ countries for international travel into the bloc. The restrictions have been in place as part of measures to counter the coronavirus pandemic. Canada is the largest of the new additions, but the EU has also cleared the path to non-essential travel to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Jordan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In all, the EU lists 28 countries or territories which it recommends member states can now lift restrictions on travel to. That includes the USA, restrictions on which were lifted two weeks ago. The UK, which is battling a rise in Covid cases from the Delta variant, is still absent, however. Inclusion on the list provides a recommendation from the EU with the final decision on lifting restrictions taken by individual member states.<br/>
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Six years after being recommended in the aftermath of the deliberate crash of a Germanwings Airbus A320, an aero-medical repository has been formally unveiled by the European air safety regulator. The repository is intended to assist aero-medical examiners to meet obligations by enhancing the availability of commercial pilots’ medical information. Germanwings flight 9525, operated by an Airbus A320, was flown into high terrain in March 2015 after the first officer – having locked himself alone in the cockpit – initiated a deliberate controlled descent. The inquiry determined that the first officer had been suffering from a mental disorder with psychotic symptoms and decided to commit suicide. None of the 150 occupants survived. In the wake of the crash a task force recommended creating a European aero-medical repository, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency says the tool went live in June this year. Mandatory use of the repository by EASA members is envisioned from 1 October. EASA states that it will “enhance flight safety” by allowing traceability of commercial pilots’ medical certificates. The repository is intended to ensure that a reduction in medical fitness can be detected, mitigating the risk if such a deterioration is not self-declared by a crew member. <br/>
While not a complete wash-out, the summer tourism season vital to southern Europe's economies will be less than sizzling as the Delta coronavirus spreads and travel hurdles keep British and other sun-seekers at home. A European Union COVID-19 travel certificate launched on Thursday may help some make trips but arrivals to tourist hotspots from Portugal to Croatia are set to remain well down on normal levels, putting businesses and hospitality jobs at risk. "The recovery of tourism in Portugal has come to a halt," Raul Martins, head of the country's AHP hotel association said of new travel restrictions from Britain and Germany, normally lucrative markets for Portugal's beaches, restaurants and clubs. The fast-spreading Delta variant of coronavirus is pushing a rise in cases in the Algarve's tourist magnet Albufeira and is to blame for over half of new infections in the capital Lisbon. Add to that Britain's decision last month to strike Portugal from its "green list" of destinations and Germany's move to curb travel there just ahead of the introduction of EU certificates showing a tourist's double-vaccination or COVID-free status. Even before the German decision and a recent Portuguese rule for unvaccinated UK travellers to quarantine, hotels there forecast occupancy rates of just 43% this month and 46% for August. AHP said hotels would be more downbeat if polled now.<br/>
Germany expects the Delta variant of COVID-19 to account for up to 80% of infections this month and could ease travel restrictions from countries like Portugal and Britain where it already dominates, its health minister said Thursday. Jens Spahn told a news conference that Germany could reduce the current 14-day quarantine requirement that it imposes on travellers from countries with high levels of the Delta variant once it is sure that vaccinated people are protected. Spahn said the move could happen soon, without specifying. Germany’s STIKO vaccination commission said later on Thursday that UK studies show that two vaccines doses seem to provide as much protection against the Delta variant as against other COVID-19 variants. Spahn reiterated the importance of speeding up vaccinations, noting that 37% of Germany’s population has now received two shots, while 55% has had a first dose. About half of German coronavirus cases are currently Delta variant and Spahn said it will dominate later this month.<br/>
Thailand's ambitious quarantine-free tourism experiment began on Thursday morning as an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi carrying fully vaccinated passengers landed on the island of Phuket. After clearing immigration, the visitors were taken straight to their hotels, where they will wait for the results of PCR tests COVID-19. If the results are negative, the tourists are free to roam the entire island. The Etihad flight was followed by a Qatar Airways flight from Doha and an El Al flight from Tel Aviv. A Singapore Airlines flight was scheduled to land later in the afternoon. The four flights were due to bring in a total of 249 passengers, according to the Thai government. "I want the 'Phuket sandbox' to succeed as a way to achieve our big goals," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters. "May all Phuket residents be proud because it is a mission for the nation." The prime minister's visit reflects the importance of the Phuket sandbox experiment. The Thai government intends to use the island as a steppingstone, with tourists gradually allowed to land in other spots as the country methodically reopens to vaccinated international tourists. Plans are for a full reopening by mid-October. Koh Samui, a touristy island in the Gulf of Thailand and roughly 250 km northeast of Phuket, is scheduled to reopen on July 15. Story has more details.<br/>
Australia will cut international arrivals by 50% in a bid to halt a surge in the delta-variant of the coronavirus that this week forced half the population into lockdown, as the government starts looking at creating a road-map out of the pandemic.While the reduction of commercial-flight arrivals will take the pressure off the hotel-quarantine system, “that alone does not provide any fail-safe regarding any potential breaches” of the virus into the community, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Friday. The cuts are expected to last until at least the end of the year, he said. Morrison said state and territory leaders had also agreed to map out a pathway to switch from virus suppression to focus on reducing the risk of serious illness and hospitalization, depending on high vaccination rates that are yet to be determined. In the meantime, Morrison’s arrival cuts mean that even as other developed economies such as the US and the UK open up, Australia is further isolating after imposing strict border restrictions when the pandemic began 15 months ago. A tardy vaccination rate -- the second-slowest among the 38 OECD nations -- has made it particularly vulnerable to the delta variant, which is increasingly leaking out of the quarantine system for international arrivals.<br/>
Minister for Transport S Iswaran said he is confident that Singapore will "grow Changi back once again and bring it into a new phase of life", as Changi Airport marked its 40th anniversary on Thursday. The Singapore Changi Airport handled 4.3m passengers in the first six months of its opening in 1981, said Iswaran. Since then, it has welcomed multiple awards and accolades, including Skytrax's World's Best Airport and Best Airport by Size and Region at the Airport Council International Airport Service Quality Awards. Changi Airport brought home the former 11 times, including in 2020. Iswaran noted how the birth of the airport had been a "major feat - not just of engineering, but of vision". It was built "swiftly" in six years, he said, and crossed the 10-million mark in 1986 before reaching nearly 70m passengers in 2019. "We realised the prediction of Mr Howe Yoon Chong, another key architect of Changi, that it would be 'one of the best if not the best in the world'," said the minister. <br/>