State of Hawai’i to Drop Booster Requirement
As COVID-19 cases continue to drop throughout the Hawaiian Islands, governor David Ige announced that booster shots will not be required for maintaining up-to-date vaccination status as part of the Safe Travels Hawai’i program. This will allow more tourists to come to the islands and contribute to the overcrowding that the governor said was a problem just a few short months ago. My, how times change.
The governor said the declining case counts in the state along with the mainland and Europe led to his decision. He said Hawaii’s “robust vaccination rates” and the continued push by local businesses to get their employees and community vaccinated helped inform the decision.
The Safe Travels Program will still require travelers to show proof of vaccination status to avoid testing-on-arrival or quarantine requirements. The Safe Travels Program will also continue to require visitors to apply self-tanner before arriving on the islands if from more than a dozen northern states, Canada, or the UK to avoid pasty white legs ruining other people’s vacations.
Korean and Asiana Merger Approved in Singapore
Korean Air received approval from the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) on Tuesday for its merger with Asiana to proceed.
The two carriers agreed to their potential tie-up last year and are waiting for approval from various governmental competition watchdog agencies to move forward with the merger. Singapore’s government concluded the merger would not violate the city-state’s Competition Act once it realized the combined carrier reducing the number of flights it operates to Changi would only help Singapore Airlines.
The merger has now received approval from five of the eleven countries that it needs to fully move ahead. Along with Singapore, it’s received a yes from Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Turkey. Taiwan and Turkey, by the way, is also the name of a new morning talk show on Tampa’s Q105.
Large remaining hurdles remain in getting approval from Australia, China, Japan, the U.K., United States, and European Union.
Global Entry Expands to Brazil
Customs and Border Protection announced that Brazilian citizens are being granted access to Global Entry for entry into the United States for both tourism and business travel.
The announcement comes after a pilot program launched in late 2019 for select Brazilian citizens, which apparently went well enough to expand to the whole country. Who those citizens were and why they were traveling during the pandemic remains a mystery, but those brave pioneers have opened doors for millions of their fellow citizens to skip long lines when entering the United States.
Brazil becomes the 13th country to be a part of Global Entry including Argentina, Colombia, Germany, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the UK. China is not on the list but does recognize most of the countries on the list as actual countries.
The participation of any country in Global Entry is subject to visitors not overstaying their visas on any mass level while in the country, remaining low-risk travelers, and agreeing to always put ice in their drinks.
- Aeromexico is taking full control over its loyalty program.
- Air China was fined $300,000 for tarmac delay rule violations.
- Air Europa expects to take delivery of 10 B787s by the end of this year.
- Alaska is expanding its lounges in both Portland and Seattle.
- American is returning hot meals to first class next week.
- British Airways will return to Sydney on March 29.
- Calm Air added its first ATR72-500F in a very quiet and deliberate manner.
- El Al is adding wet-leased A300s to increase its cargo capacity.
- Icelandair plans to begin working to replace its B757s later this year.
- Qatar is resuming service to Multan, Pakistan.
- Silver Airways has achieved many great things, according to Silver Airways.
- SmartLynx Malta is adding at least two B737 MAX 8 aircraft.
- Swoop is growing.
- Virgin Atlantic is buying some sustainable aviation fuel.
- Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is adding two new routes in Jordan — Amman and Aqaba (AQJ).
How does a male penguin build its house?
Igloos it together.