The UK will prevent entry to passengers who have arrived from or transited through the UAE, Rwanda or Burundi, except those with British or Irish passports or UK residency in order to halt the spread of a variant of Covid-19. The move came into force at 13:00 (GMT) on 29 January, with direct passenger flights from the UAE to the UK also banned. Exempted travellers will be required to self-isolate for 10 days at home, along with their household. Passengers returning from these countries cannot be released from self-isolation through the use of Covid-19 testing. The UK Department for Transport says the decision will help to "prevent the spread of the new [Covid-19] variant originally identified in South Africa into the UK". Worsening Covid-19 cases in the UAE led to the country being removed from the UK's travel corridor list on 12 January. Up until that point the connection between London and Dubai was the 22nd busiest international route globally, data shows, with 950 flights and nearly 400,000 seats between 1 and 11 January. London-Dubai was British Airways' second-busiest route in the first 11 days of the year by flight numbers after London-New York, and the largest by number of seats offered at nearly 90,000. For Dubai-based Emirates, the connection to London was easily the largest connection by both metrics, with 629 services and over 300,000 seats operated in the first 11 days of 2021.

Germany has shut its border to travellers from Ireland and Portugal in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus variants that are more-easily transmitted. The German government has added those nations to an entry ban that already includes travellers from Brazil, the United Kingdom and South Africa, it says on 29 January. The prohibition runs from 30 January to 17 February. Additional restrictions for passengers from the African countries of Lesotho and Swaziland will be imposed from 31 January, Germany adds. There are exceptions for German citizens and permanent residents, as well as those transiting through Germany to non-Schengen region destinations. However, these travellers may not leave transit areas at major air hubs Frankfurt and Munich. “The dynamism of the spread of the variants is particularly worrying in these countries,” says the government regulation. “With an increased entry of the above-mentioned virus variant strains into the Federal Republic of Germany, there could be a rapid increase in the number of cases. The associated and worrying burden on medical facilities to protect the population in the Federal Republic of Germany should be avoided.” German flag carrier Lufthansa currently operates 55 weekly flights to the affected countries. It is as yet unclear how many of these will be cancelled. The prohibition is the first such policy Germany has enacted unilaterally without coordinating with the broader European Union. Germany lists 160 nations in a “high risk group”. Travellers from those countries undergo additional screening when entering Germany. Also on 29 January, Canada said its airlines are halting flights to Mexico and the Caribbean for three months, until 30 April. That effort too is aimed at halting the spread of new Covid-19 variants. The ban comes when many winter-weary Canadians would typically travel south for holidays.

US regional carrier PSA Airlines has removed “most” of its fleet of MHIRJ Aviation CRJ-series regional jets from service so as to inspect nose landing-gear doors. “Out of an abundance of caution, PSA Airlines has temporarily removed most of its aircraft from service in order to complete a necessary, standard inspection on the nose-gear door,” PSA parent American Airlines says. “We are working with PSA and the FAA to immediately address the issue.” “The issue is related to three nuts/bolts on the nose-gear doors,” American adds. PSA’s fleet includes 129 CRJ-series jets, including 60 CRJ700s and 69 CRJ900. “PSA Airlines removed a number of its… regional jets from service after discovering a maintenance item that required immediate attention,” the US Federal Aviation Administration says. “The airline voluntarily disclosed the matter to the FAA, and the agency is working with the airline to address the situation.” The FAA provides no other details. “We are working with our customers to arrange new accommodations on other flights and we are working to return the impacted aircraft to service,” American says . MHIRJ, the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries unit that acquired the CRJ programme from Bombardier in 2020, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Dayton, Ohio-based PSA operates routes for American from hubs in Charlotte and Philadelphia, according to its website.