Travel News

The Federal Government has given further reasons the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned flights from Nigeria to Dubai.

The Minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika made this on Monday while briefing the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 in Abuja.

Sirika accused the UAE of discriminatory protocols, adding that Emirates and other airlines, including KLM, gave conditions unacceptable to Nigeria.

He explained that UAE insisted that Nigerians intending to visit its country must use Emirates or spend two weeks in the alternative carrier’s country before entering Dubai.

He, however, said that talks were ongoing to resolve the matter.

“Emirates wanted us to do the test 48 hours before boarding, and 48 hours is not yet the incubation time.

“They expect us to do a rapid test at the airport, fly seven hours later and then follow us to our hotel or our accommodation and do another test when we arrive Dubai.

UAE lifts ban on travels between Nigeria, Dubai. “The protocol, unscientific, appeared targeted at only Nigerians.

“They also insisted that in addition to the test on arrival and other tests, that Nigerians cannot fly to UAE except through Emirates airlines. However, they made it clear that if we choose to do so through other airlines we must remain in the country of that airline for two weeks if we are Nigerians before we can enter Dubai.

“What this means is that if Nigerians buy ticket on Ethiopian airline, they must remain in Addis Ababa for two weeks, whether they have a visa or not, before proceeding to Dubai.

“We honestly think Its too much considering the fact that majority of Nigerians are petty traders, and the ticket of Emirates, in this case, maybe higher than other airlines,” he said.

BY  Alan Levin, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Alphabet Inc.’s drone-delivery venture, Wing, is releasing free software for U.S. drone users to get permission to fly near sensitive areas such as airports.

The entry of Wing, which is using its corporate cousin Google’s mapping expertise, instantly makes it one of the more significant players in the burgeoning arena of tracking unpiloted aircraft. Starting Tuesday, Wing’s OpenSky application will be available on Google Play and Apple Inc.’s App Store.

While Wing’s vision of creating a massive drone delivery network is still years away, the new application is a stepping stone toward that goal, which requires well organized traffic patterns and widespread civilian compliance.

“With nearly two million registered drones in the U.S. already, regulatory compliance of all drones will allow them to share the sky safely,” Wing said in a press release. “Moreover, compliance will ultimately expand the uses and benefits of drones -- among them emergency response, commercial inspections and contactless delivery -- to more people.”

Wing is one of 15 companies that have an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to grant drone flight approvals through an agency system known as Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability, or LAANC.

Seven of those companies are already offering services to the public, including Airmap Inc., Aloft Technologies Inc. and aerospace giant Airbus SE. Hobbyists from the Academy of Model Aeronautics have a partnership with UASidekick LLC for similar services.

Wing’s OpenSky will allow civilians to get permission to fly near airports or over some densely populated cities, provided other FAA safety rules are followed.

Wing has been testing its automated drone delivery system in Australia, Finland and in rural Virginia.

Existing applications are generally free, but some include fees for additional functions.

The FAA is still in the process of expanding drone uses. It finalized requirements for the devices to broadcast their identity and is working on the framework for allowing them to fly longer distances.

Millennials, more so than any other demographic, are ready to drop their financial adviser to pursue Do-It-Yourself (DIY) investing instead.

According to a recent report from global comparison site Finder.com, nearly one in three Canadian millennials (33.7 per cent), say they plan to quit working with their financial adviser or are seriously considering it. Generation Z follows close behind, with 31 per cent thinking of moving on from their advisers in favour of DIY investing.

In contrast, only 21 per cent of Generation X and 11 per cent of Baby Boomers say that they’re ready to let go of their advisers, or at least considering it.

Sheldon Petrie, a 39-year-old application engineer living in Kitchener, Ont., quit working with his former adviser a few years ago after realizing how much the fees were costing him.

“When I first started with mutual funds, I thought that I had no options but to pay the fees. It was around the time that I got my current house I started researching personal finance in Canada and I really came to the stark realization that a 2 per cent + fee every year just erodes your returns,” Petrie said.

Petrie educated himself on investing through different subreddits, podcasts, YouTube channels and books. “I learned that investing really wasn’t all that complicated,” he said.

Petrie wanted to see if he’d be happier using a robo-adviser approach or a self-directed approach, so he moved his TFSA monthly contributions over to Wealthsimple and his RRSP to Questrade in a couch potato portfolio. The latter was a three-fund portfolio comprised of low-fee ETFs. Now, he’s fully invested at Questrade using asset allocation ETFs. He has also since hired the services of a fee-only planner who provides a financial review and planning advice.

Petrie is not alone on wanting to save money on investment fees. Among all generations surveyed, the most common reason for firing an adviser was to save money on fees (54 per cent) followed by “having more control over my money” (42 per cent).

Notably, Generation Z was eager to have greater control over their investments, more so than any other generation (48 per cent). And, what stood out among millennials was that 25 per cent value the convenience of newer online and mobile investment options.

“I think what Generation Z and millennials are noticing is that these new options for investing for their future take away a lot of those barriers that existed even a few years ago,” said Nicole McKnight, PR Manager at Finder.com, who analyzed the survey data and wrote the Finder.com report.

““You might have had to ask your financial adviser, ‘How do I make a trade on the stock market?’ or maybe they would need to do it for you. A lot of those barriers have been taken away.”

Additionally, since many millennials and Gen Z feel shut out of the housing market and aren’t receiving the same workplace pensions their parents did, they’re feeling increased pressure to take a more active role in planning for their financial future, McKnight said.

“We aren’t bound to the same thinking and ideas that our parents had,” Petrie added. “For them, access to ETFs and low-cost investing was non-existent to most Canadians. None of my parents knew anything about investing other than GICs and mutual funds.”

Petrie points out that many millennials aren’t even banking the same way as their parents. In Petrie’s case, he got fed up with the fees of traditional banks in his 20s and moved to President’s Choice Financial, now known as Simplii Financial.

Before younger Canadians make the leap to DIY investing, it’s important they do as much research as possible to learn their own risk tolerance and the pros and cons of different accounts, such as trading within a TFSA, RRSP or unregistered account, McKnight said.

New investors should also be careful not to put all of their money on trends like meme stocks.

“If you going to try jumping on a bandwagon, set aside a certain portion of your savings that you’d be comfortable losing,” McKnight said. “When it comes to investing, it’s all about diversifying.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2021.

Leah Golob, The Canadian Press

KEY POINTS

• Australian officials extended lockdown and social distancing measures to more of the country on Wednesday, with four major cities already under a hard lockdown to contain an outbreak of the Delta variant.
• Around one in two Australians are under stay-at-home orders, with millions others subjected to movement curbs and mandatory mask-wearing.
• With more than five million residents of greater Sydney under a two-week lockdown, New South Wales state reported 22 new locally transmitted cases on Wednesday.

A person exercises at the Sydney Opera House during a foggy start to the day on June 30, 2021 in Sydney Australia. Lockdown restrictions continue as NSW health authorities work to contain a growing Covid-19 cluster. Brook Mitchell | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Australian officials extended lockdown and social distancing measures to more of the country on Wednesday, with four major cities already under a hard lockdown in a race to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant.

Around one in two Australians are under stay-at-home orders, with millions of others subjected to movement curbs and mandatory mask-wearing amid Covid-19 flare-ups in several locations.

With more than five million residents of greater Sydney under a two-week lockdown until July 9, New South Wales state reported 22 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, all linked to prior infections.

That was up slightly from the previous two days, but still below the peak of the current outbreak of 30 new cases reported on Sunday.

“New South Wales is demonstrating a steady rate of cases at this stage ...but to date our fears about huge escalation haven’t materialized and we certainly want to keep it that way,” state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

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With a total of around 170 new locally transmitted cases since the first infection was detected two weeks ago in a limousine driver who transported overseas airline crew, NSW is the worst-affected state or territory in the current outbreak.

Residents of Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Darwin were joined in lockdown on Wednesday by those of the outback town of Alice Springs, the gateway to UNESCO World Heritage-listed Uluru. Officials issued stay-at-home orders for the town after a potentially infected traveler used the airport.

South Australia, meanwhile, reported its first locally transmitted cases for 2021, but stopped short of imposing a full lockdown, saying they believed the threat was contained.

Officials instead limited home gathering and urged people to wear masks in public after they reported five new cases - a miner who had returned home from a Northern Territory mine and his wife and children who had been in self-isolation.

Elsewhere in the country, Queensland reported three new locally acquired cases, Western Australia logged one and the Northern Territory recorded none.

Singapore on Wednesday said travelers from Australia will have to undergo home quarantine for a week from Friday.

Vaccine woes

Lockdowns, tough social distancing, swift contact tracing and a high community compliance have helped Australia quash prior outbreaks and keep its Covid-19 numbers relatively low. It has reported just over 30,550 cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began.

But less than 5% of its 20 million adult population has been fully vaccinated, leading to criticism of a sluggish national inoculation drive.

Ampoules of the Corona vaccine of the Swedish-British manufacturer AstraZeneca stand on a table in a GP practice. Nicolas Armer | picture alliance | Getty Images

The federal government on Monday announced it would indemnify doctors who administer AstraZeneca’s vaccine shots to people under 60, after previously preferencing Pfizer doses for that age group due to blood clot concerns.

Two deaths have been linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, a 52-year-old woman and a 48-year-old woman.

However, Queensland state authorities said they would not endorse the move, saying it would unnecessarily put their younger population at risk.

“I don’t want an 18-year-old in Queensland dying from a clotting illness who, if they got Covid probably wouldn’t die,” Queensland state Chief Health

BY  Juliana Ajayi

Air Peace Limited has said it will expand to Gombe State, and London with the assistance of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

According to a statement by the airline, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, disclosed that the airline would expand to Gombe soon and also plans to deploy the new Embraer E195-E2 aircraft in West Coast and the broader African Region.

The statement said, “The airline would be opening Gombe soon and plans to deploy the brand new aircraft in West Coast and the broader African region.

“Similarly, Onyema said the airline is planning to commence the Lagos-London flight with the assistance of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, which is working on fast-tracking the process.”

According to the statement, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, identified the acquisition of a brand-new aircraft by Air Peace to be in line with the Federal Government’s roadmap for the nation’s aviation industry.

Onyema, in response to the minister’s commendation, said the acquisition of the 30 new planes would create 17,000 jobs for technical personnel in the country, in addition to the over 3,000 direct and indirect employees.

He said, “By next year, we hope to receive all the 13 planes we made firm orders for, and by the end of 2023, we intend to activate payment for another 10 of the aircraft brand, which will bring the total to 23.

“We have new routes that we have just opened, and more routes will still be explored in the coming months.”

New travel companies are making it easier for remote workers to live and work abroad without the long-term commitment.

(Bloomberg) --

Emirates expects more than 450,000 passengers to travel through its Dubai hub next month amid a surge in demand over the summer.

The airline’s busiest days will be “the next two weekends,” and it expects to operate more than 1,600 flights over this period. High passenger traffic is expected to start on Wednesday and run through July 12, the Dubai-based carrier said in a statement.

Emirates said close to 100,000 passengers will be arriving on its flights into Dubai -- the Middle East’s trade and travel hub. To accommodate the surge during the Eid holiday, the state-owned carrier is ramping up capacity to about 90% of its pre-pandemic levels. Dubai Airports reopened a terminal and concourse that were shut in March 2020.

Emirates has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, with widespread border curbs preventing travelers to make the inter-continental journeys in which the carrier specializes. The airline has grounded most of its fleet of Airbus SE A380 superjumbos, while its Boeing Co. 777s are struggling with lower passenger loads and are transporting mainly cargo for the time being.

Emirates Group was propped up by the Dubai government with a $3.1 billion cash infusion after a collapse in long-haul travel, the airline’s main business, led to its first loss in decades.

The federal government has issued a new travel protocol to bar non- Nigerian passengers who have been in South Africa, Brazil, India, and Turkey within 14 days preceding their travel to Nigeria.

On Monday, the FG added South Africa to the list of countries banned from flying into Nigeria due to the surge in the country’s COVID-19 cases.

In a statement on Wednesday, Boss Mustapha, chairman of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, said that any airline that fails to comply with the ban shall mandatorily pay a penalty of $3,500 for each defaulting passenger.

The protocol, which will take effect on July 2, noted that the ban does not affect those who only transited through the countries as they would not be denied entry into Nigeria.

“Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India, Turkey or South Africa within 14 days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria. This regulation, however, does not apply to passengers who transited through these countries,” the statement reads.

“The following measures shall apply to airlines and passengers who fail to comply with (a) above: airlines shall mandatorily pay a penalty of $3,500 for each defaulting passenger; and non-Nigerians will be denied entry and returned to the country of embarkation at cost to the airline.

“Nigerians and those with permanent resident permits who visited Brazil, India, Turkey and South Africa within 14 days preceding travel to Nigeria shall be made to undergo seven days of mandatory quarantine in a government approved facility at the point-of-entry city and at cost to the passenger.

“The following conditions shall apply to such passengers: within 24 hours of arrival shall take a COVID-19 PCR test; if positive, the passenger shall be admitted within a government-approved treatment centre, in line with national treatment protocols; and if negative, the passenger shall continue to remain in quarantine and made to undergo a repeat PCR test on Day-7 of their quarantine.”

Mustapha explained that the validity period of pre-boarding COVID-19 PCR test for all Nigeria-bound passengers still remains at 72 hours.

Before boarding, travellers must also present a Permit to Travel Certificate/QR code), generated from the Nigeria International Travel Portal (NITP).

He noted that airlines would be fined $3,500 per passenger for lifting any traveller without the two documents.

“Airlines who consistently fail to comply with the above requirements may be banned from coming to Nigeria,” he added.

BERLIN, July 1 (Reuters) - Germany expects the Delta variant of COVID-19 to account for up to 80% of infections this month, meaning it could ease travel restrictions from countries like Portugal and Britain where it already dominates, the German health minister said on Thursday.

Jens Spahn told a news conference that Germany could reduce the current 14-day quarantine requirement that it imposes on travellers from countries with high levels of the Delta variant once it is sure that vaccinated people are protected.

New studies suggest that people who have received two doses of vaccine are well protected against the Delta variant, which could mean that the rules could be reassessed soon, Spahn said, without saying when that may happen.

He reiterated the importance of speeding up vaccinations, noting that 37% of Germany's population has now received two shots, while 55% has had their first dose.

Germany last week declared Portugal and Russia to be "virus-variant zones", meaning a mandatory two-week quarantine even if travellers are fully vaccinated or test negative, prompting German tourists there to rush home and airlines to cancel flights. It also classifies Britain as such a zone.

Spahn suggested that such countries could be shifted to a category that allows travellers to be released from quarantine after five days if they test negative.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to discuss travel restrictions when she meets British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.

The European Commission said on Tuesday that Germany should not impose a travel ban on Portugal but limit itself to imposing testing and quarantine requirements to be in line with the European Union approach meant to ease summer travel.

Reporting by Emma Thomasson and Thomas Escritt; Editing by Maria Sheahan

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has called on traditional rulers and residents in border communities to be actively involved in safeguarding the borders and discourage all forms of illegal migration.

Engagement of such persons, the Service said is part of new strategies needed in the new drive to scale up effective border control management, which is a critical component of national security architecture.

The move, the Immigration said will checkmate the influx of illegal settlers into the country as the border control agency concludes plans to review its Visa Policy (NVP 2020) and Border Management Strategy documents.

Comptroller General of the NIS, Muhammad Babandede, who disclosed this in Lagos Thursday at the opening of a management retreat organised in partnership with the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said NIS was mulling the idea of replacing the ECOWAS travel certificate packaged as paper document with a bio- metric card to be swiped at the borders for persons travelling frequently within the sub region.

The new arrangement, he said will reduce incidence of frequently stamping of passports, which not only waste paper, but needs overhaul as most countries are now adopting technology for efficient border control.

This is just as Babandede called on all third party custodians of the service’s data information to relinquish it as the NIS’ Technology Building is fully activated with the servers running efficiently ready and all the servers are set.

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Babandede said the three-day senior management retreat was aimed at strengthening migration management through best practices.

According to the CGI, an effective border management system and visa/residency administration policy is key to enhancing the nation’s security architecture with possibility to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) for enduring prosperity.

He said, “As a country with expansive and extensive borderlines, we must be courageous enough to sincerely interrogate our country’s security and migration management cover with a view to discovering our strengths, weaknesses and areas of urgent interventions.

“We need to re-examine our current investment on our relationship with members of border communities and the traditional institutions. I see a need to re-enforce, re-negotiate and perhaps revamp our current approach for meaningful engagements.

He went on, “We have a huge opportunity in this meeting to critically interrogate our current efforts in these areas with a view to bringing about the desired reforms that will not only allow for improved service delivery but also enhance our relevance in the nation’s security and investment ecosystem.

He also said the government of Nigeria is committed to the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) through e-Technology calling on third parties to bring back its data.

“The technology building is a building that will gather real time technology not only for Nigeria but the world so the government of Nigeria has invested massively in technology. With this technology building we want to take our data from third-party, and I urge the honorable minister that we are ready, all the servers are set. Those companies that have our data should bring it back to us because it is our data. If I don’t take it before I go, you take it when I’ve left.”

Speaking earlier, Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mr. Frantz Celestin applauded the partnership between the Immigration and the IOM which has enabled the latter support Government of Nigeria to establish a reinforced management information system. According to him, the system: Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) has revolutionized the country’s border management operations which strengthened NIS’ digital data collection and storage capacity.

He said, “Nigeria has the largest and most complex MIDAS architecture in the world. All five international airports in Nigeria have been covered with MIDAS, 29 per cent of the Seaports and 16 per cent of the land borders and 7 state commands. All five airports have online real time connectivity with INTERPOL 24/7 and supported with over 130 work stations and border management equipment.

“The foreigner registration system is another tool that the NIS has at its disposal to effectively account for foreign nationals residing in the country and to regularize them when necessary. First piloted at the NIS HQ and Cross-River State Command, the system is now operational in 36 states.”