The discovery the Omicron variant comes at a delicate moment for an airline industry that was just starting to see a rebound. The question is whether the new coronavirus variant will deter travelers, as the Delta variant did this summer. Several nations, including the United States, have banned visitors from South Africa and a handful of neighboring countries. Morocco has banned all incoming flights for two weeks, the Philippines has banned visitors from southern Africa and several European countries, and Israel has closed its borders to all foreign visitors for 14 days. The international travel recovery has been slower than it has been in the United States. President Biden’s decision to ease longstanding restrictions on foreign travelers this month promised to stimulate that rebound. It isn’t yet clear how or whether the Omicron variant will affect travel demand, but if travel bans proliferate and concerns over the variant continue to spread, hopes for an accelerated international rebound could be dashed once again. Only two US carriers, Delta and United, fly out of southern Africa. Both have said that they are not yet planning to adjust their schedules in response to the administration's ban, which takes effect on Monday and does not apply to American citizens or lawful permanent residents. Delta operates three weekly flights between Atlanta and Johannesburg. United operates five flights a week between Newark and Johannesburg, and it has not changed its plans to restart flights between Newark and Cape Town on Wednesday. None of the countries that have announced the new travel restrictions are major sources of business for US carriers. No major American airline has announced any substantive changes to procedures because of the variant. And all passengers flying into the United States must provide proof of a negative coronavirus test, with noncitizens also required to be fully vaccinated.<br/>
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Airlines, passengers and businesses had to respond to a deluge of travel restrictions announced over the weekend to slow the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant. An initial spate of flight bans from southern Africa, where omicron was first detected, gave way to wider-ranging measures that will make travel more expensive and less convenient -- if possible at all -- recalling earlier days in the pandemic. From Tuesday, Japan will ban foreign visitors until more is known about the variant, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in Tokyo on Monday. The UK reintroduced mandatory PCR tests for all arriving passengers and said they must self-isolate until receiving a negative result. Israel closed to all inbound foreign nationals for 14 days, the Philippines said travelers from European countries including Switzerland and the Netherlands won’t be welcome for several weeks and Singapore delayed the launch of vaccinated travel lanes with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Spain and Switzerland tightened access for arrivals from Britain, whose travel comeback has quickly been thrown into reverse. U.K. low-cost carrier EasyJetsaid Sunday its flight schedule was operating as normal, “however we continue to monitor the situation closely.” While the full impact will get clearer over coming days, “this will be problematic for business travel -- particularly inbound into the U.K.,” said Martin Ferguson, a spokesman for American Express Global Business Travel.<br/>
US health officials have not imposed any new screening or tracing requirements in response to the newly discovered Omicron COVID-19 variant that prompted the Biden administration to restrict travel from southern Africa. Starting Monday, the United States will bar most foreign travelers from South Africa and seven other southern African countries in an attempt to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, which was first identified in South Africa on Friday. However, the travel restrictions do not ban flights or apply to US citizens and lawful US permanent residents. Until the ban starts at 12:01 ET Monday, flights from South Africa have continued to carry foreign nationals. Airline passengers entering the United States from abroad are already subject to stringent CDC COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements, but are not generally monitored by health officials after they leave flights and are not required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival in the United States. Nearly all foreign nationals entering the US need to be vaccinated to enter but Americans do not need to be vaccinated to return home. Delta and United, the two airlines that fly direct to Johannesburg said on Friday they do not plan any changes to their South Africa-US flights after the variant was discovered. Fully vaccinated travelers must provide proof of negative COVID-19 tests taken within three days of their departure but those not fully vaccinated must have had a negative test result within one day.<br/>
Former advisers to President Joe Biden said travel restrictions will do little to stop the spread of new Covid-19 variants, and the US and other nations would be better off increasing vaccine deliveries to Africa. Biden last week imposed a broad entry ban on people who have been in South Africa and seven nearby countries, seeking to halt the spread of the omicron variant. The EU, the UK, Canada and others have imposed similar measures. Biden’s ban kicks in Monday. While political leaders gravitate to border closures as a way to take immediate action, medical experts tend to say that partial closures are typically ineffective, in part because they affect only a sliver of travel volume. Andy Slavitt, who served as a Covid-19 adviser to Biden for several months this year, is among the critics and said energy should instead be focused on inoculations in Africa. “Banning travel hasn’t seemed to be anything close to Panacea,” Slavitt tweeted on Friday. “And it punishes countries and their economies who make and report discoveries.” He added Saturday: “A far better response would be the mass shipment of hundreds of millions of vaccines to the area.” South Africa’s discovery of the variant triggered a market sell-off on Friday. Airlines sank and the S&P 500 closed 2.3% lower, the biggest one-day drop since February. Middle East stocks tumbled on Sunday, even as South African health officials said initial omicron cases have been mild. <br/>
Canada is following countries, from the US to Hong Kong, in banning foreign nationals from seven southern African nations, amid concerns about a new Covid-19 variant. Worries about the variant sent markets around the world tumbling Friday, feeding fears the latest threat could derail the fragile global recovery. There are no direct flights from the region into Canada. We are “acting quickly to protect the health and safety of Canadians,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters in Ottawa. “We are banning the entry of foreign nationals into Canada that have traveled through southern Africa in the last 14 days.” Canada’s largest airline, Air Canada, lost as much as 11%, the most since June 2020, but the damage was widespread. Every sector of the S&P/TSX Composite Index was weaker, with the equities benchmark tumbling 2.3%, the most in 13 months. Energy stocks led losses as oil plummeted, with the sector sinking 3.7%. The seven countries are South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Eswatini. One week ago, Air Canada said it no longer required support under a C$5.9b state rescue package. The same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said it will ease testing requirements for vaccinated Canadians making short trips to the US. Some economists are warning the spread of the variant could have material impacts on economic activity.<br/>
Countries across Europe halted air travel from southern Africa amid growing concern about a new, potentially riskier Covid-19 variant that originated there and has since been traced in people from Belgium to Israel. European Union members agreed to rapidly impose restrictions on seven African countries -- Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe -- as scientists scrambled to determine whether the new strain is more dangerous. The U.K. also closed the routes, though no cases of the new variant have yet been detected in the country. Belgium, meanwhile, confirmed one case of the new Covid-19 variant, called B.1.1529, in someone who traveled from abroad. In Israel, an individual arriving from Malawi was also found to carry the new strain, prompting Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to say his country was “on the verge of an emergency situation.” The new threat comes just as the latest wave of infections spirals out of control in countries from Germany to Belgium to Austria. Some parts of Europe are already back in lockdown due to a spike in cases. In the U.K., which has effectively abandoned restrictions such as mask-wearing and other social-distancing measures, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the new variant poses “substantial risk” to public health, though the government has no plans yet to tighten pandemic rules. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control labeled the strain as a “variant of concern,” its most severe category. The tightening of travel rules are a fresh blow to the airline industry, which was just starting to recover from earlier travel restrictions. European stocks slumped on Friday, heading for their sharpest drop this year, tracking Asian stocks lower. <br/>
Israel over the weekend became the first country to seal its borders to all foreign travelers in response to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, taking a step that appeared more severe but less discriminatory than other countries’ travel bans. Only four weeks ago, Israel fully re-opened its skies to vaccinated tourists after it had barred foreign visitors early in the pandemic. But by midnight between Sunday and Monday, its borders are expected to again be closed to foreigners. The rapid reversal came after a late-night meeting on Saturday of Israel’s coronavirus cabinet and constituted a broader ban than those imposed by most countries so far. The United States, Britain, Canada, the European Union and other nations have all announced bans on travelers from southern Africa, where the variant was first detected. Those bans have triggered a wave of resentment among Africans who believed that the continent was yet again bearing the brunt of panicked policies from Western countries, which had failed to deliver vaccines and the resources needed to administer them. Hours after Israel announced its blanket ban, Morocco said on Sunday it would deny entry to all travelers, even Moroccan citizens, for two weeks beginning Monday. The country is banning all incoming and outgoing flights over the two-week period. In Israel, all foreign nationals will be banned from entering for at least 14 days, except for urgent humanitarian cases to be approved by a special exceptions committee. Returning vaccinated Israelis will be tested upon landing and will have to self-quarantine for three days, pending results of another P.C.R. test. Unvaccinated Israelis will have to self-quarantine for seven days. Israelis returning from countries classified as “red,” with high risk of infection, including most African countries, will have to enter a quarantine hotel until they receive a negative result from the airport test, then transfer to home quarantine (until they get a 7-day PCR test result). Ran Balicer, the chairman of an expert panel that advises the Israeli government on Covid-19 response, said the decision was temporary and was taken out of prudence because most nations likely are not yet capable of detecting the variant yet. Israel has identified at least one confirmed case of Omicron so far — a woman who arrived from Malawi — and testing has provided indications of several more likely cases in the country.<br/>
Bahrain has banned entry to travellers from four more African states, increasing the number of banned countries on its red list to 10, due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the state news agency reported on Saturday, citing a decision by the Civil Aviation Affairs. The four additional countries are Malawi, Mozambique, Angola and Zambia. The ban excludes Bahraini citizens and those with Bahraini residency visa holders, it said. Bahrain on Friday banned entry to travellers from South Africa and five other southern African nations.<br/>
Shanghai scrapped about one-third of the flights from its busiest international airport on Friday and suspended some hospital services after a handful of Covid infections were detected in the financial hub, showing China’s commitment to stringent curbs to eliminate the virus as winter looms. More than 30% of flights from Shanghai Pudong International Airport were canceled on Friday morning, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Schools were immediately suspended and housing complexes tied to the cases were locked down as local officials embraced strict measures in what may become a protracted battle as cold weather forces more people indoors. Chinese airline stocks declined. Shanghai International Airport Co. Ltd. fell as much as 4%, while Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. dropped at least 2% in Hong Kong. China reported four locally transmitted infections on Friday in Shanghai and the northern province of Liaoning, according to the country’s National Health Commission. Three other cases, all believed to be connected to the Shanghai flareup, were found in the e-commerce hub of Hangzhou - the capital of the Zhejiang province south of Shanghai - and Xuzhou in the north. None developed symptoms. The news comes on the heels of the broadest outbreak China experienced since the virus emerged in 2019 in Wuhan, which had been brought to a trickle in recent days. The latest flareup comes amid strict measures to contain the pathogen and raises questions what it may take for China to get back to zero cases, which it has aggressively sought. Officials have vowed to continue to battle the virus at every turn, prioritizing the health of its people, even as the rest of the world has gradually opened up. Shanghai locked down residential compounds tied to the infections for 14 days and suspended emergency room services at some of its largest hospitals. Local authorities have already tested more than 54,000 people. No positive results have been reported so far. The renowned Zhejiang University closed one of its main campuses after a staff member tested positive. <br/>
India said on Friday it will resume international passenger flights from mid-December with COVID-19 linked curbs for "at risk" countries, and ordered tightened screening at borders as fears over a new coronavirus variant spread globally. The federal health ministry said reports of mutations in the variant, identified as B.1.1.529, had "serious public health implications", and asked states to adopt rigorous screening and testing for all passengers from South Africa and other "at risk" countries. "This variant is reported to have a significantly high number of mutations, and thus, has serious public health implications for the country in view of recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening up of international travel," health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states late on Thursday. But India's civil aviation ministry said it had decided to let airlines resume scheduled international flights from Dec. 15, lifting a nearly two-year-old ban imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19. The resumption of flights would be based on the coronavirus risk levels of individual countries, according to a formal government order. Some countries in Europe and Asia have rushed to tighten border controls and restrict travel because of the new variant. India's foreign ministry said there was no immediate information on steps the government was taking. "This is a developing incident," foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said. <br/>
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that Japan will close borders to new entries of foreign nationals, including business travelers, foreign students and foreign interns from Tuesday as fears of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus grow. "This is a preventive, emergency measure to avoid a worst-case scenario," Kishida told reporters at the Prime Minister's Office. The entry ban does not affect foreign residents re-entering Japan and Japanese nationals. But Japanese citizens and foreign residents re-entering Japan traveling from 14 countries where cases of the omicron variant have been confirmed will be required to quarantine in government-designated facilities, Kishida said. "This is an extraordinary measure for the time being just until we know more about the omicron variant," Kishida said. The omicron variant may be more infectious than other strains, but relatively little is known about how transmissible and better able to evade the body’s immune responses it is. The prime minister urged the public to remain calm, wear masks and maintain social distancing, stressing that Japan has the highest vaccination rate among Group of Seven countries and that it still remains relatively early since a large portion of the population received their second shots of the COVID-19 vaccine. Kishida also said that there had been one traveler from Namibia who tested positive for COVID-19. It was unclear if the person had been infected with the omicron variant, but the sample had been sent to a lab to make that determination, a process that was expected to take four to five days, he added.<br/>
Thailand said on Saturday it would ban the entry of people travelling from eight African countries it designated as high-risk for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. Starting in December, travel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, will be prohibited, senior health official Opas Karnkawinpong told a news conference. Thailand will not allow travellers from these countries to register to travel to Thailand starting on Saturday, he said. The announcement comes as other countries in Asia tighten borders over worries about the B 1.1.529 variant. The World Health Organization designated it the latest "variant of concern," saying it may spread more quickly than other forms. "We have notified airlines and these countries," Opas said adding that travellers from other African countries will not be allowed to use the country's quarantine-free travel scheme for vaccinated travellers.<br/>
Argentina’s government launched measures on Friday to discourage foreign travel as a way to protect the country’s thin dollar reserves ahead of heavy debt payments. The Central Bank banned use of credit card installment payments for airline flights and other tourist services abroad. While Argentines pay those in pesos, the local agencies must pay for most of those services by transferring dollars abroad. “We have to advance in the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which implies that the reserves not only have to be robust, but have to be sufficiently strong to undertake that negotiation,” said government spokesperson Gabriela Cerruti. Argentina has spent three years trying to renegotiate repayment terms on a $45 billion credit the IMF granted in 2018 and considers it vital to stabilizing an economy whose lengthy crisis has been hit as well by the pandemic. The Argentine peso has fallen to historic lows against the dollar recently, aggravating the nation’s persistent inflation. The new measure appears to hit hardest at middle class Argentines who don’t have the means to finance trips with a single payment. The Argentine Federation of Associations of Travel and Tourism Companies said it would evaluate a possible legal challenged to the meature, which it called “an attack against travel consumers and companies that, in the large majority, are small and medium sized.” Cerruti said the measure was temporary, but did not say how long it would last.<br/>
Russian carrier SKOL has been blacklisted by the European Commission over safety concerns, but restrictions on all Moldovan operators have been lifted. SKOL became immersed in a dispute with Russian federal regulator Rosaviatsia earlier this year after the authority ordered withdrawal of more than 30 aircraft from its operating certificate over alleged failure to maintain lease payments. The carrier was operating over 50 aircraft, mainly helicopters, but its fleet also included Let L-410s and a Yakovlev Yak-40. It has been blacklisted over “concerns about its ability to comply with international standards”, says the European Commission. SKOL becomes one of seven airlines individually banned from European operations, although another 90 airlines remain barred overall as a result of blanket prohibitions on 15 countries. Several Moldovan airlines had been added to the blacklist in 2019, although flag-carrier Air Moldova – along with Fly One and Aerotranscargo – were excluded.<br/>
Vietnam plans to further cut environment tax on jet fuel to help the airline industry, which is struggling from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, its finance ministry said on Friday. The ministry is seeking government approval to lower the jet fuel tax by 50% for the whole of 2022, compared with the current 30% cut, which is due to expire at the end of this year. "It's necessary to continue cutting environment tax in 2022 to help local airlines weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic," it said. "Jet fuel tax will be at 1,500 dong ($0.0662) per litre after the cut." Vietnam imposed tight border controls at the start of the pandemic and suspended almost all inbound flights to keep out COVID-19, which dealt a blow to its airline industry. Official data showed the industry suffered a loss of 16t dong ($705.78m) in 2020, when Vietnam was only mildly affected by the virus. This year's loss is expected to be greater as domestic flights were halted for nearly six months while movement curbs were imposed to contain the country's worst outbreak so far. According to the ministry, environment tax reduction would help the aviation industry to overcome difficulties, especially when the country was seeking to resume international flights next year.<br/>
Australia has axed a plan to build a 2,700m (8,858ft) concrete runway near its Davis Research Station on the coast of Antarctica. The government of prime minister Scott Morrison attributed the decision to concerns about the environmental impact of the project, says environment minister Sussan Ley.<br/>The project, originally announced in May 2018, would have seen the construction of the first paved runway on the southern continent. The runway would have been capable of handling widebody commercial aircraft and strategic transports on a year-round basis. Other infrastructure would have included taxiways, runway lighting, and buildings to accommodate services such as air traffic control and firefighting. A pier was also planned, as well as storage facilities for fuel. Initial estimates suggested that building the aerodrome would have required a combination of icebreakers and ice-strengthened cargo vessels. Every year, two cargo vessels would have been dispatched to Antarctica to support construction.<br/>