UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated that COVID-19 pre-departure tests will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travelers and individuals under 18 arriving to the UK, reports The Independent. Beginning Friday, January 7, fully vaccinated arrivals and travelers under 18 will be able to take a lateral flow rather than a PCR test for their day two test, and they will not have to isolate while waiting for results. However, the rules remain the same for unvaccinated or partly vaccinated travelers 18 and over, who must present a negative pre-departure test, quarantine for 10 days upon arrival, and take a PCR test on days two and eight of self-isolation. Although the current easing of restrictions currently only applies to England, it is likely that the governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales will follow suit. The transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the move on Twitter, saying: “We’re removing the temporary extra testing measures we introduced last year at the border to slow cases of Omicron coming to the UK.”

The US State Department is encouraging Americans traveling internationally to make "contingency plans" amid the current wave of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, reports Travel + Leisure. The department is advising anyone leaving the country to prepare for potential quarantine and testing requirements. "US citizens who choose to travel internationally should be aware that they may face unexpected challenges related to COVID-19 as they attempt to return to the United States or attempt to travel from one overseas location to another," the department wrote in an advisory last week. "US citizens who do choose to travel internationally should make contingency plans, as they may have to remain in a foreign country longer than originally planned, which will be at their own expense." Additionally, the State Department recommends people purchase international travel insurance that includes COVID-19-related trip cancellation and medical coverage, warning that Medicare and Medicaid do not usually cover overseas medical costs.

Unvaccinated US citizens traveling to France will now have to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival after French officials added the US to its COVID-19 'Red List' of countries, reports Travel Pulse. Americans traveling with proof of full vaccination will still be required to present a negative COVID-19 test before arrival, but they won’t be forced to follow the 10-day self-isolation period required of unvaccinated travelers. With an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, France has imposed additional travel restrictions to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The country has recently added a number of new COVID-19 restrictions, including mandatory mask-wearing in public spaces and mask requirements in the streets in big cities including Paris and Lyon.

Hawaii has updated its entry requirements this week, dropping a questionnaire and cutting the mandatory quarantine period in half, reports USA Today. As of Tuesday, January 4, travelers to Hawaii no longer need to fill out a health questionnaire 24 hours before their flight to receive a QR code to reduce processing time upon arrival. Under the new entry requirements, visitors will receive a QR code via email once their trip information is submitted through the Safe Travels platform and will have it sent to their inbox once again one day prior to departure. Hawaii also revised its quarantine requirement for unvaccinated visitors who do not test negative for COVID-19. As of Monday, January 3, the mandatory quarantine period for unvaccinated domestic travelers was cut from 10 days to five to align with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which updated its guidance last week. Travelers who are fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 do not need to isolate upon arrival.

Delta Air Lines had the best on-time performance among major North American carriers in 2021, reports Business Travel News. According to airline data analytics supplier Cirium's annual report, the carrier had approximately 87.8 percent of flights arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. Alaska Airlines (81.7 percent), American Airlines (80.5 percent), and United Airlines (80.4 percent) followed, each with on-time arrival percentages at 80 percent or higher. Globally, Delta came in fifth among major carriers, with All Nippon Airways (ANA) taking the top spot with 95 percent of 2021 arrivals on time.