Tag: travel

Thousands stranded at Philippine airports due to power outage

Manila, Philippines (AFP) Tens of thousands of travellers were stranded at Philippine airports on Sunday after a power outage knocked out communication and radar equipment at the country’s busiest hub in Manila, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled, delayed or diverted. Aviation authorities detected a “technical issue” on Sunday morning involving the air traffic management centre at Manila’s domestic and international airport. More than 360 flights in and out of Manila were cancelled, diverted […]

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Italy to screen all China arrivals for Covid

Rome, Italy (AFP) Italy is making coronavirus tests for visitors from China mandatory following an explosion in cases in China, the health minister said Wednesday. “I have ordered mandatory Covid-19 antigenic swabs, and related virus sequencing, for all passengers coming from China and transiting through Italy,” minister Orazio Schillaci said. The measure was “essential to ensure the surveillance and identification of any variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population”, he said. […]

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US considering Covid entry restrictions for travelers from China

The United States is considering Covid entry restrictions for travelers from China, US officials said Tuesday, after Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month. Infections have surged across China as key pillars of its containment policy have been dismantled, prompting US officials to express concern at the potential for new variants to be unleashed. That potential became even more real Monday when Beijing said it would scrap mandatory Covid quarantine for overseas arrivals from […]

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Hong Kong asks Japan to reverse ‘hasty’ Covid flight curbs

  Hong Kong, China (AFP) Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday asked Japan to remove restrictions on direct flights from the city, which were imposed following the explosion of coronavirus cases in mainland China. The city deployed similar curbs during its own fight against Covid, including rapid bans on airlines for carrying virus-positive passengers and travel restrictions for nations with major outbreaks. Japan became one of the first countries to impose China-specific travel restrictions this week […]

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Thailand hits 10 million visitors in 2022 as tourism recovers

Bangkok, Thailand (AFP) Thailand celebrated the arrival of its 10 millionth international visitor of 2022 on Saturday, according to the tourism authority, as the kingdom consolidated the recovery of its Covid-battered travel sector. Thailand welcomed some 40 million people in 2019, but then the pandemic hit and travel was decimated as nations tightened border controls to contain the coronavirus. With those restrictions easing worldwide Thailand’s travel numbers have begun a slow recovery and the government […]

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China to ease mainland residents’ travel to Macau

Beijing, China | AFP | Mainland Chinese residents will be allowed to visit Macau using an online visa system as of Tuesday, officials said, streamlining travel to the world’s largest gambling hub after more than two years of pandemic restrictions. Macau is the only place in China where casinos are legal and the former Portuguese colony once dwarfed even Las Vegas for the scale of bets placed every month. But China’s strict Covid-19 controls have […]

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Japan further relaxes border controls for tourism

Tokyo, Japan (AFP) Tourists will be able to visit Japan from next week on package tours without a guide, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday, as the country moves to ease strict Covid-19 controls. From September 7, Japan will also raise its daily cap on the number of people allowed to enter the country to 50,000, Kishida told reporters. Japan has kept strict border restrictions in place longer than many other major economies, and only […]

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US travelers warned of increased violence risk after Zawahiri killing

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US State Department Tuesday warned Americans traveling abroad they face an increased risk of violence after US forces killed Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. His death in a drone strike in Kabul over the weekend dealt the biggest blow to Al-Qaeda since the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, prompting US President Joe Biden to declare that “justice had been delivered.” Following the strike, the State Department Tuesday urged […]

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DOH confirms the country’s first monkeypox case

(Eagle News) – The Philippines has recorded its first case of the monkeypox virus – a 31-year old Filipino who arrived from abroad on July 19, the Department of Health said on Friday, July 29. The patient also had prior travel to countries with confirmed monkeypox cases, according to Health Undersecretary Beverly Ho. The DOH official, however, did not reveal the gender of the Filipino who is now confirmed to be the first monkeypox case […]

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China halves quarantine time for overseas travellers

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday (June 28) reduced the length of mandatory quarantine for inbound travellers, in the biggest relaxation of entry restrictions after sticking to a rigid zero Covid policy throughout the pandemic. The new guideline cuts the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days plus three more of home monitoring — a drastic drop from about 21 days of quarantine and home monitoring combined. China closed off […]

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Russia advises against travel to UK

Moscow on Friday advised its citizens against travel to the United Kingdom, citing London’s “unfriendly” stance as well as huge delays in visas for Russians. “In order to avoid financial losses and other possible problems, we recommend that Russian citizens refrain, if possible, from travelling to the UK and trying to obtain British visas,” the Russian foreign ministry said. It added that it will “act in the same way” with British citizens until the situation […]

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Myanmar junta to reopen borders to tourists

Myanmar’s junta will allow tourists to apply for visas after a break of more than two years, state media said Thursday, sparking calls by an activist group for foreign travellers to stay away. The country closed its borders to visitors in March 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to prevent infections rising. It was further isolated after the army toppled the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February […]

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