iata travel restriction covid 19 map

IATA interactive map gives travelers latest Covid-19 restrictions

This map will help you discover which countries have travel restrictions

Jun 12, 2020 • 2 min read

A map will help you discover which countries have travel restrictions ©wundervisuals/Getty Images

The world of travel ground to a halt back in March, and international travel pretty much ceased for leisure purposes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is slowly relaunching again but it can be tricky to work out what's happening, so a free online interactive world map may help people to keep track of the situation.

The map has been launched by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to provide travelers with the latest COVID-19 entry regulations by country. It relies on IATA’s Timatic database, which contains comprehensive information on documentation required for international travel. To keep pace with the dynamic situation currently being experienced, Timatic is updated more than 200 times per day to provide accurate travel restriction information, based on the citizenship and country of residence of the person using it.

In a recent survey commissioned by IATA regarding concerns people had about air travel post-crisis, more than 80% of travelers said they are as concerned about potential quarantine restrictions as they are about actually catching the virus during travel. With the quickly-changing health restrictions from one country to the next confusing people, this new resource may help to remove some of the uncertainties we're experiencing.

"As the aviation industry prepares to safely restart, travelers will need to know which countries’ borders are open and what health restrictions exist," says Anish Chand, IATA’s assistant director, Timatic. "Travelers can rely on Timatic for comprehensive and accurate information on travel during the pandemic."

IATA’s COVID-19 interactive world map, also available for mobile, can be viewed here .

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IATA launches interactive online map for latest aviation COVID-19 restrictions

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Posted: 12 June 2020 | International Airport Review | No comments yet

IATA’s new interactive service provides users with the most up-to-date information on country-specific COVID-19 travel restrictions and regulations.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that it has introduced a free online interactive world map to provide travellers with the latest COVID-19 entry regulations for each country.

The map relies on IATA’s Timatic database, which contains comprehensive information on documentation required for international travel. To keep pace with the dynamic situation with respect to COVID-19 , Timatic is updated more than 200 times per day to provide accurate travel restrictions specific to the current pandemic, based on one’s citizenship and country of residence.

IATA ’s Assistant Director of Timatic, Anish Chand, said: “As the aviation industry prepares to safely restart, travellers will need to know which countries’ borders are open and what health restrictions exist. Travellers can rely on Timatic for comprehensive and accurate information on travel during the pandemic.”

In a recent survey commissioned by IATA regarding concerns that people had about air travel post-crisis, more than 80 per cent of travellers said that they are as concerned about potential quarantine restrictions as they are about actually catching the virus during travel.

With the uncertainties and quickly changing health restrictions from one country to the next during the pandemic, this new resource for travel planning is timely and important. 

Chand continued: “We support the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines to harmonise the measures to keep people safe while travelling and provide the confidence to open borders without quarantine measures. And this Timatic offering will be a vital tool for travellers who need easy access to accurate information on entry requirements.” 

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Airport crisis management , COVID-19 , Passenger experience and seamless travel , Regulation and Legislation , Safety

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International Air Transport Association (IATA) , International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

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Videh Kumar Jaipuriar has been nominated for his exemplary leadership in managing and navigating Delhi International Airport (DEL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. He led multiple initiatives to ensure business continuity at DEL, which included passenger safety and convenience, stakeholder management, cash conservation, adoption of new technologies, and care for environment and employee safety.

He proactively engaged with the government stakeholders and supported them in safeguarding aviation through strong confidence building measures for travellers, such as developing several indigenous technology solutions like air circulation with six changes per hour and a combination of UV and plasma disinfection systems to provide safest journey experience to their passengers. Under his leadership, DEL has been forefront of implementing safety measures which was later adopted across the country.

Despite lockdown, Jaipuriar ensured that DEL was operational for rescue missions, medical evacuations, and transporting medical essentials to various parts of the country. He further led the Vande Bharat Mission flights of Government of India (a rescue mission to get Indians back to India), as well as rescue flights by other international governments. His outstanding leadership across all areas across the stakeholders in the aviation ecosystem and going beyond the call of duty in managing and navigating this crisis for a national capital airport having national importance makes him the apt choice for the Person of the Year Award.

Adnan Saggaf continues to demonstrate strong leadership skills throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and brought out of the box ideas in attracting traffic and to support his team during this difficult time. With new innovative ideas in balancing cash flow, the facilities were kept maintained and the personal were kept employed. 

Saggaf has protected the financial stability of his staff income, ensured valuable cost cutting management, shown excellent performance of crisis management, and exceptional negotiation skills shown with authority regarding agreement restructuring and receivable payments.

To handle the loss of Umrah traffic to the airport, Saggaf chose to attract new airlines, mainly LCCs, to use the terminal with attractive offers and more reliable services. He built a new strategy by diversifying the airport offers. He prepared the facilities by deploying new technology and working on enhancing passenger experience. Saggaf also initiated a capacity building programme for the airside team by drafting SOPS, training and coaching, as well as initiating dedicated workshops to discuss ideas and to deploy new initiatives.

Leaders show strength in difficult times, and this is exactly what Saggaf showed and why he deserves to be awarded as the Person of the year 2021.

Peter has been with the Sangster International Airport for over 25 years. 

He has experience in customer service, operations and now oversees the security function and is also the Chief Operations Officer. 

Peter has been instrumental in co-ordinating the preparation and implementation of a COVID-19 response plan for not just MBJ, but to guide the operation of all agencies operating on airport. The aim of this plan was to ensure a safe environment for staff and the travelling public; therefore, this plan was instrumental to establish consumer/travellers/public confidence and provided information and guidelines on the new protocols implemented at the airport.  

Peter is well known for his expertise in investigation and aviation security. His co-operation with law enforcement stakeholders has been unrelenting in assuring the security of the airport and stakeholders alike. 

While Peter is known as a firm individual that displays the outmost professionalism and integrity, he operates on the basis of equity and fairness in all matters relating to staff, clients, passengers and the general public.   

Robson Freitas has developed and led the BH Airport plan for the resumption of airport operations post-COVID-19, as well as being responsible for leading the group of Directors and Managers at the airport, defining the three main pillars of recovery: Health and Safety of People, Institutional and Integrated Communication and Institutional Partners. These central pillars include ensuring hygiene and health and social distances measures for passengers, users, and the airport community, in addition to participating in strategic committees involving the public sectors to comply with regulatory rules. Freitas developed the COVID guardians programme, who were responsible in monitoring and following up on the measures already implemented for COVID-19 and advising users, employees and other people on compliance with distancing, hygiene and health measures recommended by health authorities. He also developed a COVID booklet with information and guidance for the airport community regarding good hygiene and health practices and led the beginning of the publication of a monthly newsletter with passenger curve information, allowing the planning of reopening and rehiring by commercial stores. Freitas also supported the reduction of OPEX by planning the temporary closure of areas, toilets and equipment in common use and internalising some activities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Raghunath worked closely with all the aero concessionaires and cargo operators to minimise disruption and provide financial relief to them. The airline marketing team helped launch a historic first route to the U.S. West Coast and the cargo team at BIAL also achieved record numbers over this period, with the airport becoming India’s leading airport for the export of perishables. Despite the impact of COVID-19, Raghunath has led a digital transformation and expansion at BIAL airport, with new initiatives and the deployment of the fully biometric-based self-boarding solution for seamless passenger flow and travel experiences and a process automation and analytics platform. These initiatives amongst many others, meant that the airport won ACI World’s ‘Voice of the Customer’ initiative, which recognised BIAL airports efforts to prioritise their customers during COVID-19. Raghunath has remained a staunch and resilient leader during such an uncertain time and is very much appreciated by his team.

As Head of Operations, Alicia Prince has played a critical role in leading and navigating Cairns Airport through the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, Prince implemented a functional plan to ensure business continuity and staff welfare, segregating front-line operational staff into work teams to avoid interaction between groups, as well as strict sanitisation processes. She ensured that the $55 million domestic Terminal upgrade continued safely despite the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis.

She also deployed the COVIDSafe Operation Plan for Cairns Airport, which was endorsed and later commended by Queensland Chief Health Officer. As part of this plan Alicia developed an airport layout to provide physical separation of low risk and high-risk arrivals and initiated increased hygiene and sanitisation protocols. The health and safety of the airport community was paramount to maintaining operations, and in response to this Alicia initiated a COVIDSafe training program for the entire airport community and worked closely with her team to deliver.

As a result of the great work Prince has done to ensure COVID-19 best practices, Cairns Airport was one of the first Australian Airports to be awarded an ACI Global Health Accreditation.

Alicia also led the terminal optimisation project, which assessed and implemented terminal downscales due to the crisis. Significant savings (both financial and environmental) were achieved by reducing the operational footprint of the airport.

Whilst maintaining operations throughout the pandemic was a priority, Alicia ensured her team were kept well informed and engaged. Cairns Airport has a team of 33 volunteers which form part of Alicia’s wider team. To ensure they remained connected and cared for, Alicia and her team created care packages including home-made cakes and personally delivered to each of the volunteers’ houses in a COVIDSafe manner. Alicia demonstrated great leadership throughout the pandemic and continues to do so today. Her clear and transparent communication and collaboration with other Australian Airports and key agencies to ensure best practice and alignment contributed greatly to business continuity. Furthermore, all the above was managed whilst working remotely and juggling home schooling with her two young boys.

Balram Bheodari leads Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as North America’s most efficient airport, due to his vast knowledge of and astute attention to efficiency in aviation, which has allowed the airport to thrive in the most difficult of markets. Bheodari combines operational expertise, integrity, and selflessness to provide a quality of leadership throughout Atlanta Airport. He oversees all facets of airport governance, including operations and a multi-billion-dollar capital improvement programme, ATLNext, designed to pave the way for Atlanta’s growth over the next 20 years. During COVID-19, Bheodari developed a comprehensive resumption of operations playbook that served to support ATL’s recovery efforts. With guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amid evolving health and safety guidelines, Bheodari steadfastly encouraged collaboration among stakeholders, team-building among aviation employees, and adaptability in uncertain times. Throughout the pandemic, he participated in daily calls with Airports Council International and other large-hub airports to share best practices as well as information from Washington, D.C. federal offices and the CDC.

He aimed to restore customer confidence and ensure the airport was a healthy facility using COVID-19 safe protocols. Since, the airport achieved Airport of the Year by the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC).

During the height of the pandemic, Bheodari was the most ardent supporter of our mission-critical employees. Having worked his way up through the ranks, he fully appreciates the oftentimes thankless jobs these employees perform that keep the Airport safe and running optimally at all times. Morale never flagged because Bheodari made sure those employees felt valued through hazard pay, special meals, social media posts, intranet spotlight features, and other incentives.

His actions and his directives all reflect his commitment to the three key focus areas of our organisation’s strategic plan: people, purpose and performance.

Jonas Abrahamsson has shown the strength to steer the company towards its long-term sustainable goals, despite the challenges of COVID-19. Abrahamsson has ensured that Swedavia achieved its net zero target for all ten of the airports in 2020 and has continued to support strategic development and innovation to further the cause of sustainable air travel. During 2020, when passenger numbers where down over 90 per cent and a lot of investments were paused, he decided that investments in the company’s net zero target should proceed, allowing Swedavia to become the first net zero airport group by the end of 2020.

Chris Dinsdale has worked at Budapest Airport since 2015, originally as CFO until March 2021, where he was nominated for the position as CEO. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dinsdale, as CFO of the airport at the time, fought relentlessly to make sure that the company survived the crisis and worked with great commitment to secure the funding of the airport. For example, a voluntary salary cut for the executives and the founding of the Budapest Airport Foundation, which supports blue collar workers who lost their job during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After being nominated to CEO position in March 2021, Dinsdale continues to work closely with the executive team to create a clear COVID-19 recovery strategy for Budapest Airport. This will also mean that we come out stronger of the pandemic and have a clear focus. Dinsdale is an inspiring true leader who helped us all to cope with the very difficult times of the pandemic and I am convinced that he truly deserves this award.

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IATA Interactive Map Gives Travelers Latest COVID-19 Restrictions with Real-time Alerts Available

IATA Interactive Map Gives Travelers Latest COVID-19 Restrictions with Real-time Alerts Available   

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) introduced a free online interactive world map to provide travelers with the latest COVID-19 entry regulations by country.

The map relies on IATA’s Timatic database which contains comprehensive information on documentation required for international travel. To keep pace with the dynamic situation with respect to COVID-19, Timatic is updated more than 200 times per day to provide accurate travel restrictions specific to the current pandemic, based on one’s citizenship and country of residence.

‘’As the aviation industry prepares to safely restart, travelers will need to know which countries’ borders are open and what health restrictions exist. Travelers can rely on Timatic for comprehensive and accurate information on travel during the pandemic,’’ said Anish Chand, IATA’s Assistant Director, Timatic.

In a recent survey commissioned by IATA regarding concerns people had about air travel post-crisis, more than 80% of travelers said they are as concerned about potential quarantine restrictions as they are about actually catching the virus during travel.  With the uncertainties and quickly changing health restrictions from one country to the next during the pandemic, this new resource for travel planning is timely and important.

‘’We support the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines to harmonize the measures to keep people safe while traveling and provide the confidence to open borders without quarantine measures. And this Timatic offering will be a vital tool for travelers who need easy access to accurate information on entry requirements,” said Chand.

IATA’s COVID-19 interactive world map, also available for mobile, can be viewed here . The Timatic COVID-19 Alerts service was also launched this week to offer subscribers real-time notifications for all travel updates related to the pandemic.

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The Best Interactive Maps for the Latest COVID Travel Restrictions

We rounded up the best tools to help you figure out the mind-boggling, coronavirus-related travel requirements..

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United is regularly updating its COVID travel tool.

Courtesy of United

Figuring out where you can travel during the coronavirus pandemic has proven to be no small task. In the United States, the rules vary from state to state—some states have mandatory quarantines, others have COVID-19 testing requirements , and some have no entry restrictions at all . And they often differ depending on which state you are coming from and going to . The web of restrictions is equally complicated for international destinations . What’s worse, they’re constantly changing.

Thankfully, several companies and organizations have created dynamic, interactive domestic and international maps designed to provide the most up-to-date COVID-19 travel information. Here are the ones we have found to be most useful.

United Airlines’ Destination Travel Guide

Launched in September, United’s interactive map is available online as well as on the United mobile app. There is a United States and global version of the carrier’s Destination Travel Guide , a color-coded digital map that lets travelers know whether each state or country is closed, partially open, or fully open for travel. When you click on a state or country, a pop-up window indicates whether COVID-19 testing, a quarantine, and/or travel health forms are required for entry. You can then click on a “see more info” tab that reveals whether face coverings and social distancing are required and whether (and which) businesses are open, closed, or open with limitations.

The Destination Travel Guide is intended to be “a simple, easy tool that helps customers decide where to travel next,” United’s chief digital officer Linda Jojo said in a statement.

What we love about it: It’s really nice to have access to both domestic and international travel requirements all in one place. The global map is particularly thorough in that it allows users to enter any origin country and any destination country, which makes this a great tool for international travelers regardless of where they live or work.

The International Air Transport Association’s Interactive COVID-19 Map

If there is any entity that’s most in need of reliable and au courant information, it’s the global aviation industry. Enter the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) interactive world map , which offers the latest COVID-19 entry regulations by country.

This map provides up-to-the-minute (seriously, it’s updated more than 200 times per day) information on international travel restrictions based on your citizenship and country of residence.

The map is accessible both on desktop and mobile devices for easy access wherever you are. You can also sign up for a COVID-19 travel alert service, real-time notifications for all travel updates related to the pandemic (the alerts are not free—you have to contact IATA to get a quote).

What we love about it: You’d be hard-pressed to find an international travel resource updated as frequently as this one.

COVID Controls

This map combines travel information with the latest COVID-19 health data.

Courtesy of COVID Controls

Back in June, a COVID-19 travel tracking tool called COVID Controls was developed by Escape, a team of engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The smart international map they created (which also has state-by-state information for the U.S.) delivers a wide range of detail: mask mandates, arrival requirements, whether quarantine or testing is needed, and what kind of lockdown measures are in effect.

But what’s particularly helpful? It provides the latest coronavirus statistics: case counts, increases or decreases in cases over the last seven days, and whether the outbreak is trending towards containment or is on the rise.

What we love about it: You’ll often find either very thorough coronavirus updates, such as the Johns Hopkins University domestic and global tabulations regarding COVID-19 cases and deaths, or good travel resources, such as the United and IATA tools mentioned above. It’s really helpful to have a tool that brings both together.

When it comes to navigating travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, the best approach we have found is relying on a combination of sources. Cross reference maps such as these against news reports and updates issued directly by government agencies and tourism boards.

>> Next: Where Can Americans Travel Right Now?

COVID-19: International and Domestic Travel

Research and data: Edouard Mathieu, Hannah Ritchie, Lucas Rodés-Guirao, Cameron Appel, Daniel Gavrilov, Charlie Giattino, Joe Hasell, Bobbie Macdonald, Saloni Dattani, Diana Beltekian, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, and Max Roser

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Public transport

This interactive chart maps government policies on public transport closures.

Restrictions on internal movement

This interactive chart maps government policies on restrictions on internal movement/travel between regions and cities.

International travel controls

This interactive chart maps government policies on restrictions on international travel controls.

Learn more about the data source, the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker

The research we provide on policy responses is sourced from the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT). 1

The tracker presents data collected from public sources by a team of over one hundred Oxford University students and staff from every part of the world.

OxCGRT collects publicly available information on 17 indicators of government responses, spanning containment and closure policies (such as school closures and restrictions in movement); economic policies; and health system policies (such as testing regimes). Further details on how these metrics are measured and collected is available in the project’s working paper .

The data presented here is taken directly from the OxCGRT project; Our World in Data do not track policy responses ourselves, and do not make additions to the tracker dataset.

These charts are regularly updated based on the latest version of the response tracker.

OxCGRT is an ongoing collation project of live data. If you see any inaccuracies in the underlying data, or for specific feedback on the analysis or another aspect of the project  please contact OxCGRT team . See the tracker’s notes and guidance on data quality.

Explore other policy responses to COVID-19

Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone.

Help us do this work by making a donation.

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IATA Introduces Covid-19 Travel Restrictions Map

The  International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Thursday introduced a free online interactive world map to provide travelers with the latest Covid-19 entry regulations by country .

The map relies on IATA’s Timatic database which contains comprehensive information on documentation required for international travel.

According to IATA, to keep pace with the dynamic situation with respect to Covid-19 , Timatic is updated more than 200 times per day to provide accurate travel restrictions specific to the current pandemic, based on one’s citizenship and country of residence .

“As the aviation industry prepares to safely restart, travelers will need to know which countries’ borders are open and what health restrictions exist ,” said Anish Chand, IATA’s Assistant Director, Timatic.

In a recent survey commissioned by IATA regarding concerns people had about air travel post-crisis, more than 80 percent of travelers said they are as concerned about potential quarantine restrictions as they are about actually catching the virus during travel.

According to Chand, Timatic supports the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines to harmonize the measures to keep people safe while traveling and provide the confidence to open borders without quarantine measures.

Timatic has also launched a Covid-19 Alerts service to offer subscribers real-time notifications for all travel updates related to the pandemic.

IATA’s Covid-19 interactive world map, also available for mobile, can be downloaded below.

COVID-19 Interactive World Map

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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on inbound air travel to Canada

Affiliation.

• 1 National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, St-Hyacinthe, QC.
• PMID: 38742161
• PMCID: PMC11090504
• DOI: 10.14745/ccdr.v50i34a04

Background: Commercial air travel can result in global dispersal of infectious diseases. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries implemented border measures, including restrictions on air travel, to reduce the importation risk of COVID-19. In the context of inbound air travel to Canada, this study aimed to: 1) characterize travel trends before and during the pandemic, and 2) statistically assess the association between travel volumes and travel restrictions during the pandemic.

Methods: Monthly commercial air travel volume data from March 2017 to February 2023 were obtained from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). National and airport-level travel trends to Canada were characterized by inbound travel volumes, the number of countries contributing travellers and the ranking of the top ten countries contributing travellers across the study period, by six year-length subperiod groupings (three pre-pandemic and three pandemic). Using seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models, interrupted time series (ITS) analyses assessed the association between major travel restrictions and travel volumes by including variables to represent changes to the level and slope of the time series.

Results: The pre-pandemic inbound travel volume increased by 3% to 7% between consecutive subperiods, with three seasonal peaks (July-August, December-January, March). At the onset of the pandemic, travel volume decreased by 90%, with the number of contributing countries declining from approximately 200 to 140, followed by a slow recovery in volume and seasonality. A disruption in the ranking of countries that contributed travellers was also noticeable during the pandemic. Results from the ITS analysis aligned with the timing of travel restrictions as follows: implementation in March 2020 coincided with a sharp reduction in volumes, while the easing of major restrictions, starting with the authorization of fully vaccinated travellers from the United States to enter Canada in August 2021, coincided with an increase in the slope of travel volumes. Descriptive and statistical results suggest a near-return of pre-pandemic travel patterns by the end of the study period.

Conclusion: Study results suggest resilience in commercial air travel into Canada. Although the COVID-19 pandemic led to a disruption in travel trends, easing of travel restrictions appeared to enable pre-pandemic trends to re-emerge. Understanding trends in air travel volumes, as demonstrated here, can provide information that supports preparedness and response regarding importation risk of infectious pathogens.

Keywords: COVID-19; Canada; IATA; SARIMA; commercial air traffic; interrupted time series analysis; travel restrictions; travel volume.

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