The United States is currently the country most affected by COVID-19 with more than 125,000 deaths.
European Union will reopen the borders to citizens of 14 countries starting from July 1: the list includes Australia, Canada, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, Uruguay, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Georgia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
Travelers from China would be approved to enter, but under the condition that Beijing would do the same for Europeans.
The document is yet to be formally agreed by the Council of the European Union next week.
Some EU countries have requested a delay in the decision for further examination, meaning the decision may be revised. The list is not entirely binding, border management remains a matter of national decision.
“There are still ongoing consultations, which will continue until Monday,” an EU source said.
“There is no visibility on where this will go, but the presidency still hopes to put this matter to a vote on Monday,” the source added.
Brussels is following a principle of a joint agreement by EU countries based on criteria such as “health status, ability to apply containment measures during travel and reciprocity considerations”.
For now, countries like the United States, Russia, and Brazil are left out, where the epidemiological situation does not offer security for fear of new outbreaks.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 9,724,100 people have been infected worldwide and more than 492,000 deaths have been reported.
Qatar Airways plans to resume Prague-Doha flight from 1 July 2020.
The national carrier of the State of Qatar should fly to Doha three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The carrier will use the modern Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Qatar Airways has further enhanced its onboard safety measures for passengers and cabin crew. The airline has introduced the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suits for cabin crew while onboard, as well as a modified service that reduces interactions between the passengers and the crew inflight.
Passengers will also be required to wear face coverings inflight, with the carrier recommending travelers bring their own for fit and comfort purposes.
Hamad International Airport (HIA) has implemented stringent cleaning procedures and applied social distancing measures throughout its terminals. All passenger touchpoints are sanitized every 10-15 minutes and every boarding gate and bus gate counter is cleaned after each flight.
Prague Airport has recently confirmed that a total of 17 airlines have announced their intention to resume direct flights from Prague. Specifically, 55 destinations have been listed, ten of which are already in operation.
On Thursday, Czech Airlines announced a new daily flight to London (Heathrow) starting on June 25, meanwhile, on Friday the Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizzair announced the launch of a direct flight to Tirana, Albania.
The carrier will fly to the capital of Albania twice a week from July 3, 2020, on Mondays and Fridays.
Smartwings will start flying to Croatia from mid-June, as well as to Mallorca, the Canary Islands, Cyprus (Larnaca), Madeira (Funchal), and Bulgaria (Burgas and Varna).
Air France will start flying from Prague to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport from June 3. Initially, it will fly twice a week, increasing to four flights a week by the end of June. From July, the Finnish carrier Finnair plans to renew the flight to Helsinki.
Prague Airport has a number of protective measures in place. All passengers and visitors to the airport must wear a face mask in all areas, maintain safe distances, and ensure hand hygiene. More than 250 disinfection stands are located throughout the airport.
“If passengers arriving in Prague do not have their own face mask, they will receive it one for free. The check-in are also equipped with plexiglass, forming a safe barrier between the passenger and the check-in employee,” said Kateřina Pavlíková, spokeswoman for Prague Airport.
Last year, Prague Airport handled a record 17.8 million passengers.
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Passenger traffic at Prague Airport is slowly coming back.
In April, the airport saw an unprecedented drop in traffic of 99.6 percent, handling 5031 passengers. At the end of the month, there were only two regular lines, to Minsk and Sofia.
In May, however, the situation is starting to change. At the beginning of the month, KLM started daily flights to Amsterdam, as well as the direct Eurowings flight to Düsseldorf.
Czech Airlines is currently flying to Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt am Main. Air travel to and from Stockholm is set to be reinstated from May 21 and to Bucharest from May 25.
The carries plans to resume operation on its lines to Kiev and Odessa later in May, provided mandatory quarantine restrictions are terminated in Ukraine by then.
Lufthansa, Air France, and Finnair are resuming flights
In June, other airlines should gradually increase their connections. The flight to Frankfurt starting from June 1 has already been announced by Lufthansa.
Air France will start flying from Prague to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport from June 3. Initially, it will fly twice a week, increasing to four flights a week by the end of June. From July, the Finnish carrier Finnair plans to renew the flight to Helsinki.
Last year, Prague Airport handled a record 17.8 million passengers.
As far as tourists are concerned, it is not yet completely clear when the Czech Republic will start opening up. Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček said that this is likely to happen in July, provided that visitors show some sort of test.