European Union lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed a new travel certificate that will allow people to move between European countries without having to quarantine or undergo extra coronavirus tests, paving the way for the pass to start in time for summer. The widely awaited certificate is aimed at saving Europe’s travel industry and prime tourist sites from another disastrous vacation season. Key travel destinations like Greece have led the drive to have the certificate, which will have both paper and digital forms, rapidly introduced. Several EU countries have already begun using the system, including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, and Poland. Right now, traveling in the EU’s 27 nations is a trial for tourists and airlines alike. Countries have various COVID-19 traffic-light systems, where those in green are considered safe and those in red to be avoided. But each nation is applying different rules and standards, making travel confusing for all. The new regulations governing the vaccine certificates were adopted in two votes at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Rules for EU citizens were passed 546 to 93, with 51 abstentions. Those for people from outside the bloc passed 553 to 91, with 46 abstentions. The vote...
The Czech Republic will reopen its borders to EU and Serbian citizens on June 21, the government announced Monday as the country recovers after being hit hard by the Covid pandemic. Those arriving will have to show proof of vaccination or of past coronavirus infection (in the last six months) or provide a negative coronavirus test result. Those who have received just one vaccine shot will be considered vaccinated for entry purposes starting 22 days after the jab is received. A similar regime is already in place for citizens of EU members Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on a bilateral basis. “Moreover, we expect that from 1 July only European Union certificates, the so-called green passes, will be recognized,” added Vojtěch. The Czech government also raised the limit on audiences at cultural events to 1,000 people indoors and 2,000 people outdoors. In schools, children and teachers will be allowed to stop wearing face masks in the classroom in most regions. The tourism industry in the Czech Republic has suffered greatly from the coronavirus pandemic. The number of foreign hotel guests in 2020 fell by almost 75% compared to the previous year. Czech shops, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, and concert halls...
Of all leisure activities, Czechs missed travelling the most during the pandemic, as conveyed by 70 percent of respondents. In the current situation, two-thirds of Czechs want to travel abroad, which is 20 percentage points more than last year, based on the findings of an online survey conducted for Prague Airport by the Median agency on a sample of 1,572 respondents during April and May 2021. Prague Airport had the same survey conducted last year in order to map the demand for travel. The survey thus offers a comparison of the opinions of Czechs after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and after more than a year of living with the disease spread consequences. The willingness of the interviewed Czechs to travel abroad increases even more under scenarios with no systemic or personal restrictions. In such cases, 85 percent of respondents would travel immediately or within a maximum of two months. Last July, there were over three quarters of respondents providing the same answer. Interest in air travel has also increased. In the current situation, a total of 63 percent of passengers would choose this means of transport. In July last year, it was 41 percent of survey respondents. “In recent...
KLM plans to operate three flights per day between Prague and Amsterdam. As of June 26, it will resume connections to Verona, Palma de Mallorca, and Dubrovnik. Since May 13, it has been flying up to seven times per week to Belgrade. At the beginning of 2021, its destination network was complemented with Southampton, Poznan, and Cork. In July and August, KLM will add flights or deploy larger aircraft to Porto and Ibiza. It will also increase the capacities for South European destinations in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Greece. During the summer of 2019, the company offered 92 destinations; there will be 96 destinations in the summer of 2021. KLM never interrupted direct flights from Calgary to Amsterdam. Carriers Add Flights from Prague Airport During June 2021, direct flights from Prague to over 70 destinations, operated by thirty airlines, are offered to passengers. Low-cost carrier Ryanair will resume direct flights to up to twelve locations in the first half of the month, while Smartwings is to service additional seventeen places. Czech Airlines is adding connections to Malta, servicing a route which will be operated by Air Malta, too. Other airlines are also returning to Prague Airport with their offers....
Czech media reporting that Germany has taken the Czech Republic off its list of risk countries. This means from Sunday, June 6th you will be able to enter Germany without having to do a test. Currently, you have to present proof of vaccination, negative test, or previous infection to avoid mandatory quarantine. However, there will be a 10-day transition period before tourism is allowed to resume fully, meaning you will still need proof of vaccination, negative test, or previous infection to use hotels and restaurants (until June 15). Flying to Germany will still require a negative test. Without a negative certificate, they will simply not be allowed on board. In addition, air passengers will still have to register their visit – either online in advance or by filling out a questionnaire upon arrival. France meanwhile is also liberalizing its entry requirements from Wednesday, June 9. Fully vaccinated EU tourists will be allowed to enter without a PCR test. Vaccinated travelers from the US and UK will be allowed to enter France with a PCR test – i.e. they will no longer need a “compelling reason” to enter the country. Czech Railways (only in Czech) resumed the operation of some trains between...
Thanks to intensive negotiations between Prague Airport and airline representatives, in June it will be possible to fly directly from Prague to more than 70 destinations. Low-cost airline Ryanair will launch 12 new routes, Smartwings will add 17 new destinations, while other carriers are planning to return to Vaclav Havel Airport. Czech Airlines is due to add flights from Prague to Malta in June. At the same time, Iberia, Eurowings and Wizz Air will return to Prague airport and resume their flights. Ryanair will add 12 flights, including, Kosice, Zadar, and Amman. In June, Smartwings Group will launch 17 routes to destinations in Greece, Spain, and Turkey. The airline will also offer direct flights from Prague to Tel Aviv. The Czech carrier will also resume regular flights from Brno and Ostrava to Heraklion, Rhodes, Kos, Zakynthos, Corfu, Burgas, and Varna. “In the coming weeks and months, we expect a further increase in traffic and the number of passengers. The demand for travel among Czechs is growing, and this will be facilitated also by the planned introduction of covid passports,” says Jaroslav Filip, Aviation Business Director. Passengers can find complete flight schedules and information on ticket sales on the websites of...
The Czech Republic and six other European Union member states on Tuesday are introducing a vaccination certificate system, ahead of the rollout of the program across the bloc on July 1. Czechs will be able to download certificates of negative Covid tests, previous infection, and vaccination from the webpage of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (Ocko.UZIS.cz) The other countries are Bulgaria, Greece, Denmark, Germany, Croatia, and Poland, according to the European Commission. Greece has been pressing for the commonly-recognized certificate that will use a QR code with advanced security features, and the idea was originally put forward by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The new certificate will be available to people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, have a recent negative test result, or have recovered from a coronavirus infection. How will citizens get the certificate? National authorities are in charge of issuing the certificate. It could, for example, be issued by test centers or health authorities, or directly via an eHealth portal. The digital version can be stored on a mobile device. Citizens can also request a paper version. Both will have a QR code that contains essential information, as well as a digital signature to make...
In recent weeks, FlixBus has renewed connections between Prague and Paris and plans to open direct flights to Croatian resorts. The bus company will also resume other international connections from Prague to Zurich, Switzerland (June 2) and Lyon and Metz in France (June 3). The buses will be operated four times a week, (from Prague on Thursday to Sunday, back from Friday to Monday). The bus to Zurich will leave Prague at 9 am, stop in seven cities in Germany (Regensburg, Augsburg, Tübingen, Stuttgart Airport) and arrive in Zurich at 20:30. The connection to Lyon will run overnight. He will leave Florenc at 21:25 and will arrive the next day at 13:20. It has six stops on French territory and two in Germany. “This connection provides, among other things, a comfortable direct connection to Nuremberg,” said FlixBus spokeswoman Eva Krejčí. The bus to Metz will leave Prague at 9:50 and arrive at 22:10. Ticket prices for the mentioned routes start at CZK 900.
The State Security Council has decided to suspend the operation of Belarusian airline Belavia in the Czech Republic. The last flight will be checked in on Wednesday, May 26. Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček (ANO) announced it on Wednesday following the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk to arrest the journalist Raman Pratasevich, a key foe of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. In a video posted online, the detained blogger, Roman Protasevich, 26, said he was in good health, being held in a pretrial detention facility in Minsk, and acknowledged having played a role in organising mass disturbances in the capital last year. The European Union agreed Monday to impose sanctions on Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc. “Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko must pay a bitter price for forcing a commercial flight to land in Belarus in order to detain a dissident journalist on board,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday. “What Lukashenko did could hardly be more perfidious. More than 170 passengers’ lives were endangered to detain a journalist,” Maas said at a news conference with his Czech counterpart Jakub Kulhánek (ČSSD). “We won’t tolerate that one...
Effective 21 May 2021, Blue Air launches the new Bucharest – Prague route within the 2021 Summer Schedule. Blue Air will operate its route up to five weekly between Bucharest and Prague. Blue Air inaugurated today the Bucharest – Prague route, and the Boeing 737-500 aircraft (YR-BAG) was greeted with the traditional water salute at its landing at Václav Havel Airport Prague. As part of its positioning strategy as Romanians’ first ultra-low-cost air transport option, Blue Air focuses on expanding its network and serving Europe’s main airports, providing efficient connections with destinations of major interest for both the leisure and the business segment, at the most affordable travel rates with one free change included. As of 21 May 2021, Blue Air will connect Bucharest and Prague through three services per week, while planning to increase this frequency to five flights per week starting July 2021. “We are delighted to inaugurate our new ultra-low-cost Prague-Bucharest service for the benefit of our customers who can now have even more travel options at affordable prices,” says Krassimir Tanev, Chief Commercial Officer at Blue Air. The two capitals have traditionally developed a lot of business, cultural, family, sport and tourist relations and with our low fares and...
The first few hundred clients of the Čedok travel agency will be able to fly to one of the four exclusive holiday places Čedok has added to its summer package breaks today. For the first time, Czechs will enjoy exotic holiday trips without a stopover aboard comfortable Airbus A330-200 aircraft operated by Luke Air. Passengers will have the option to choose from interesting remote holiday destinations and fly from Václav Havel Airport Prague without a stopover to the Dominican Republic, the Maldives, Zanzibar, Madagascar and, in the winter season, to Cuba. “I am very pleased we are able to offer our clients several ‘feel the vibe’ flights to exotic destinations this summer. Čedok customers will thus be able to experience the comfort of long-haul aircraft, which will become our travel standard to distant places this winter flight schedule,” Stanislav Zeman, Čedok CEO, said. “Today, we started selling week-long summer stays with departures scheduled on 3 July – to the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana Airport; on 21 July – to the Maldives; on 5 August – to Madagascar, Noise Be Airport, and on 22 August – to Zanzibar. We will launch the exotic holiday offer for the 2021/2022 winter season in the coming...
The United Arab Emirates has become a destination popular with travellers who both want to enjoy the modern cities of the Middle East to the fullest and get to know the traditional local culture. Air Arabia will resume its connection to the Emirate of Sharjah during September 2021. Thanks to direct flights, passengers will be able to enjoy the local pleasant temperatures and relax on beaches in the Persian Gulf this autumn. “The United Arab Emirates is currently among the most visited countries by passengers flying from Prague. We are pleased that Air Arabia has planned to resume its regular operations during September 2021, offering additional alternatives for air travel not only to the Middle East, but also to other destinations in the carrier’s network,” Jaroslav Filip, Director of Prague Airport Aviation Business, said. Effective 22 September 2021, the carrier is scheduled to operate the route from Václav Havel Airport Prague up to four times a week during the summer and winter timetable. Passengers will thus be able to board direct flights every Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The Emirate of Sharjah and the local airport, where the direct flights are to be landing, are about a 20-minute drive from Dubai...
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