The Federal government says it has arranged for Canadians to fly home from several countries today, including Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti. It has also arranged flights for Canadians in Sudan, Ghana and Cameroon, who will travel to Addis Ababa today to catch an overnight flight to Toronto.
Global Affairs Canada says more Canadians will come home from Spain, Ecuador, Algeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Hungary and Senegal in the coming days.
It says there will also be commercial flights soon to bring Canadian travellers home from India and Pakistan.
Rocky Mountaineer will extend the delay of its 2020 travel season and suspend all train departures until July 1. The season was scheduled to start on April 13. Guests on suspended departures will receive a future travel credit for 110% of the value paid, which can be applied to a new departure in the 2020, 2021 or 2022 seasons. The guests can contact their travel professional or the Rocky Mountaineer sales centre before November 30, 2021 to apply the future travel credit.
The US State Department says it has successfully arranged the repatriation of some 25,000 American citizens stranded abroad in more than 50 countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Department officials say they are continuing to ramp up evacuation efforts and that more than 100 flights for US citizens have been scheduled for the coming weeks. About 9,000 Americans have registered for those upcoming flights and there is still space available on many.
Many of those stranded are in Latin American countries, notably Peru, where some Americans have been quarantined by authorities.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige further tightened travel restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus on Monday by ordering people moving between islands to adhere to a 14-day self-quarantine.
The order, which takes effect at midnight on Wednesday, won’t apply to essential workers like health care workers travelling to other islands.
Britain’s health service is asking airline cabin crew who have been laid off during the coronavirus pandemic to go to work in temporary new hospitals being built to treat COVID-19 patients. The National Health Service says easyJet and Virgin Atlantic are writing to thousands of staff – especially those with first aid training – asking them to work at hospitals being built inside convention centres in London, Birmingham and Manchester.
It said those who sign up will perform support roles under the supervision of doctors and nurses.
British Airways has suspended all its flights at Gatwick Airport amid a collapse in demand. The carrier says that “restrictions and challenging market environment,” led to the decision.
Airports themselves are also slowing down. Just 33 flights were due to take off or land at Gatwick on Tuesday, according to aviation data provider FlightStats. Beginning Wednesday, Gatwick’s runway will only be open for scheduled flights between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. and will close one of its two terminals.
EasyJet announced Monday it was grounding all of its 344 planes amid a collapse in demand due to the COVID-19 crisis. It said there was “no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights.”
EasyJet also said it has a strong balance sheet and is in “ongoing discussions with liquidity providers.” The budget carrier also announced it has reached an agreement with the Unite union on furlough arrangements for its cabin crew.
Virgin Atlantic has cancelled most of its flights and has urged the British government to help keep struggling airlines aloft.
Scottish regional airline Loganair said it expects to ask for a government bailout.
Britain’s government has so far demurred from creating a rescue package for aviation but has said it is ready for negotiations with individual firms once they had “exhausted other options.”
The government has formed a partnership with airlines to repatriate tens of thousands of Britons stranded around the world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said at the government’s daily briefing that those people who are still able to board commercial flights should book their tickets as soon as possible.
“Don’t run the risk of getting stranded,” he said.
Where there are not any commercial options because of the virus-related lockdown measures put in place around the world, Raab said the government will provide up to £75 million pounds ($131 million) of financial support to enable special charter flights operated by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, Jet2 and Titan Airways, to fly stranded travellers back.
German airline Lufthansa is putting 27,000 of its 35,000 employees on short hours under a government support program that will ensure they get most of their pay while the virus outbreak reduces air traffic.
The company also said that top managers and board members would forego part of their pay for at least six months.
The company said the short work hours agreed upon with employee representatives covers cabin and ground staff. A separate agreement with pilots has not yet been reached.
Under the agreements, the airline will use a government program that pays 60% of the salary of employees, 67% for those with children, and the company will top them up to up to 90% of net salary.
“We want to secure the jobs of our employees in these difficult and unusual times,” the airlines’ human resources chief, Michael Niggemann, said in a statement. “Our goal remains to avoid redundancies.”
German officials say they expect 2.35 million workers to take advantage of the wage subsidy program this year.
South Australia state authorities have announced a cluster of six new coronavirus cases among Qantas Airways baggage handlers at Adelaide airport.
State Chief Public Health Officer Dr Nicola Spurrier said on Tuesday anyone who flew through the airport in the previous 24 hours should wipe down their luggage with disinfectant. Spurrier says Qantas has been told a “significant number of staff” will have to go into quarantine because of the infections.
As governments across the globe have further strengthened public health and safety measures to protect local populations and contain the further spread of the virus, MSC Cruises has decided to further extend the halting of all its new cruise departures fleet-wide through to 29 May.
The Company previously announced the temporary halting of all its ships globally through to 30 April.
MSC Cruises is offering guests affected by this extraordinary measure the opportunity to transfer the full amount paid for their cancelled vacation plus an additional generous credit benefit to a future cruise of their choice at any point through the end of 2021.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, has announced an extension of its previously announced voluntary suspension of all cruise voyages to include voyages embarking between April 12 and May 10, for its three cruise brands. The extended suspension contributes to the global efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, which has also resulted in travel restrictions and continued uncertainty regarding worldwide port closures and availability.
Thailand’s popular seaside resort island of Phuket has closed all land and sea entry and exit points until April 30 to try to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana says a ban on air travel will start on April 10. Phuket attracts many foreign tourists whose travel plans have been disrupted by the widespread cancellation of international flights.
Thailand registered 39 million international arrivals last year. Phuket is a top destination for tourists, hosting more than 10 million visitors annually, including Thais.
Phuket’s land travel ban, which became effective Monday, makes exceptions for transport of food and essential items, emergency vehicles and vehicles carrying publications.
Ships are banned from entering and leaving Phuket’s international port, with exceptions for cargo ships, which can unload their cargoes but not allow crews to disembark before leaving as soon as possible.
Tokyo organizers say the opening ceremony will take place July 23, 2021. That is almost exactly one year after the games were due to start this year. The IOC and Japanese organizers last week postponed the Olympics because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The rescheduled Olympics will start July 23, with the closing ceremony on Aug. 8. The Paralympics were rescheduled to Aug. 24-Sept. 5.