Israel plans “Green Pass” to leisure for COVID-immune on Feb 23
According to Reuters, Israel plans to open up some hotels, gyms and other leisure facilities in two weeks to those documented as being immune to COVID-19, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Wednesday, in a possible harbinger of a wider emergence from the pandemic.
Having administered Pfizer Inc vaccines to almost 40% of its 9 million population, Israel saw first signs of managing to outpace highly contagious virus variants, he added.
Israel has said it would issue an official app allowing users to link up to their Health Ministry files and show if they have been vaccinated against or recovered from COVID-19, with presumed immunity, in order to gain entry to leisure facilities.
Those to whom neither applies would be able to get a COVID-19 test and, if the result is negative, display it on the app for up to 72 hours of similar access, officials have said.
Initially dubbed “Green Passport”, the system has been renamed “Green Pass” in an apparent bid to head off speculation that it would also enable unfettered travel abroad.
“The estimated date is the 23rd of the month,” Edelstein told Ynet TV. “We are talking about gyms, hotels, places like that, where using the Green Pass would be both appropriate and practicable.” For further details, please click here and continue to read on Reuters.
Air Canada Continues To Cut Routes & Jobs
According to Linnea Ahigren from Simple Flying, Air Canada announced Tuesday that it would be cutting 17 more transborder and international routes. As a result, the carrier will temporarily lay off another 1,500 staff. This will bring the total of airline job cuts in Canada since the start of the new year up to 5,000. Unions are not happy with the lack of aid from the Canadian government.
From February 18th until at least April 30th, Air Canada is suspending 17 more transborder and international routes out of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. According to the Daily Hive, the affected transborder routes out of Toronto are to Boston, Denver, Fort Myers, New York LaGuardia, and Washington, DC. Out of Montreal, the routes suspended are to Boston and LaGuardia. From Vancouver, service is halted to Seattle.
International routes canceled from Toronto are to Bogotá, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, São Paulo, and Tel Aviv. Flights to Bogotá are also halted from Montreal, whereas services are suspended out of Vancouver to London and Dublin. For the full text, please click here and visit Simple Flying.
Ireland may fine residents 2,000 euros for holidaying abroad
According to Reuters, Ireland’s government is considering increasing fines for residents who break current COVID-19 restrictions to travel aboard on holiday to 2,000 euros ($2,426.00) from 500 euros, Prime Minister Micheál Martin announced it on Wednesday in a press conference.
Non-essential travel oversees is a breach the top level of COVID-19 regulations that limit people to exercising within 5 kilometres of their homes, except for travelling for work, education or other essential purposes.
Ireland is in the process of introducing a 14-day quarantine in hotels for all people arriving from Brazil and South Africa, and for anyone arriving without evidence of a negative coronavirus test. Concerns over highly-infectious variants have also led Britain to seek increased penalties for those breaking movement restrictions.
For further restrictions, please click here and read the full text.
Airbus A380 is ending Production soon
The last Airbus A380 has emerged from the manufacturer’s final assembly line in Toulouse. The aircraft is destined for Emirates – just like all but three of the A380 to be built after Airbus announced the end to the program two years ago. The tail fin and engine cowlings are already adorned with the Gulf carrier’s livery, while the main fuselage remains industrially chic. It has been given test registration F-WWAM and was built in July last year. This was reported by Linnea Ahigren from Simple Flying.
Airbus announced that it would cease production of the Giant of the Skies two years ago in February 2019. This followed a deal with its largest customer, Emirates, who agreed to swap orders for 39 of the A380 for 40 A330-900s and 30 A350-900s. That left Airbus with 17 outstanding orders for the two-storied jet, 14 for Emirates, and three for All Nippon Airways.
The A380 was far from a commercial success – fuel-hungry, difficult to fill, and with few airports that could handle it, airlines such as Air France and Lufthansa are retiring aircraft barely ten years old. Meanwhile, Qantas’ CEO Alan Joyce says he is not ruling out a return for his airline’s superjumbo fleet, most of which are in long-term storage in Victorville, California. For more details about the Airbus 380 and statement from president Tim Clark is available here.
canada is introducing a mandatory 3-day hotel quarantine
Just a few lines above you could read that Air Canada is cutting jobs and routes. The aviation industry is facing the biggest crises ever. The situation in the country is not getting better also in the traveling in perspective.
According to Andrea Smith from Lonely Planet, travelers entering Canada will be required to take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival and book into an approved hotel at their own expense. This is to help prevent air travel as a potential source of further introduction and spread of the virus and its new variants, but the date of implementation for the new procedures hasn’t been confirmed. At present, those who receive a negative test result are authorized to enter the country, but must complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has listed the criteria for hotels seeking to participate in quarantining returning travelers returning from non-essential trips abroad. They must be privately owned and located near one of the four Canadian airports currently accepting international flights – Vancouver International Airport, Calgary International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport and Montreal-Trudeau International Airport.
These hotels will be generally be for people who are asymptomatic, have provided a negative pre-departure test result, and are not close contacts of confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19. Travelers staying at these hotels may have symptoms of COVID-19 but have tested negative on their pre-departure test, or they may have symptoms that are not related to the virus. The hotels must meet operational guidelines and selection criteria for the purposes of accommodating these travelers while they await their test results. For further details and for the full text, please click here and access Lonely Planet.
delta continues with covid-19 safety measures
According to Joe Cortez from Flyertalk, As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Delta Air Lines is continuing their commitment to safe travel by protecting both passengers and their employee corps. The airline announced they would continue to block middle seats through April 2021, while offering vaccines to their senior employees.
In a press release, the Atlanta-based airline announced they would be the only airline to continue making middle seats unavailable for booking. The policy extension will continue through April 30, 2021.
“We want our customers to have complete confidence when traveling with Delta, and they continue to tell us that more space provides more peace of mind,” Bill Lentsch, chief customer experience officer for Delta, said in a press release. “We’ll continue to reassess seat blocking in relation to case transmission and vaccination rates, while bringing back products and services in ways that instill trust in the health and safety of everyone on board – that will always be Delta’s priority.”
Ensuring social distancing for passengers isn’t the only measure the airline is taking to stop the spread of the novel Coronavirus. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the carrier is also making plans to help their employees get vaccinated. For the rest of the article, please click here and read the full text on Flyertalk.com.
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