NEWS: Austria, Sweden, Thailand to relax entry requirements and BA First lounge change & management shake up

Austria

The UK will no longer be considered a “virus variant” country from Monday 24 January for Austria. So if you are fully vaccinated or have recovered from the virus, you can enter Austria with a negative PCR test, valid for 72 hours, or proof of a booster jab received at least 120 days after the second shot without the need to quarantine.

If you haven’t had a booster then proof of recovery within the past 180 days also counts. Children under the age of 12 do not need proof of vaccination or a PCR test but those born on or after 1 September 2006 who are not yet fully vaccinated can download a special pass to enter the country.

Sweden

The Swedish government has also decided to remove the need for pre-entry testing from today. 

“Travellers are no longer considered to represent a particular risk that would affect the spread of the Omicron variant in Sweden. For this reason, the specific requirement for a negative COVID-19 result from a test conducted within 48 hours of arrival to Sweden is no longer considered to be a proportional measure,” said the governmetnt statement.

You can find the FCDO Sweden page here.

Thailand

Thailand has unofficially announced its intentions to soon return to its previous Test and Go scheme. This is expected to happen in early February, but as usual, I’d take it with a pinch of salt until it actually happens. If it does happen then it will be easier to visit than under the current Sandbox scheme. However, it’s still not something I’d undertake lightly. Mainly because if you test positive at any point you will be forced into government quarantine for two weeks. 

There are expected to be more requirements than before such as needing to pay for two PCR tests in advance and having to stay in a hotel on the day you arrive and on day 5 to retest. You have to remain at the hotel until you get your test results. They can be two different hotels but they must have a specific partner hospital for the PCR Tests. You will still need mandatory insurance as well. 

BA First lounge change & management shake-up

Yesterday BA announced a series of management changes, most of which will not be of interest. However, they have appointed a new position, Director of Business Recovery. I personally feel that BA has lost its way at the moment. Let’s face it I am generally pretty loyal to BA having attained the highest BA status of Gold Guest List. But at the moment it just all feels very ‘meh’. On-board catering is like a Club Europe meal in Club World, crew are even more variable than before and it’s incredibly frustrating for most people trying to reach BA by phone since they have removed most online functionality for changing or cancellation of bookings. Add in some eye-wateringly expensive fares and you begin to wonder what their actual strategy is. Most other airlines have returned to a full pre-Covid service, leaving BA the odd one out. 

So I am hoping that Calum Laming who becomes the airline’s Director of Business Recovery will shake things up a bit. He is tasked with leading BA’s mission to rebuild its global network, resources, and operations following the pandemic.  Calum is currently Chief Customer Officer at Vueling – the low-cost IAG airline which alarmed me somewhat but he has previously held a variety of customer, brand, product and marketing roles at Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, and Etihad Airways. So let’s hope he focuses on the front end of the plane as well as economy!

During the pandemic, BA had interim appointments to the roles of Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Brand and Customer Experience. These appointments for Colm Lacy and Tom Stevens have been confirmed as permanent. Colm started working for British Airways in 1997 as a Finance Analyst since then holding a number of finance and commercial positions. Tom joined British Airways on the graduate scheme in 2011, initially working in the procurement team before moving to customer and operational roles. 

Announcing the appointments, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO Sean Doyle, said:  “As we recover from the global pandemic, there’s never been a more important time to have a determined, ambitious and supportive leadership team that will put our people and our customers at the heart of everything we do. There’s a lot of work to do but we’re on our way and I’m confident we can create a working culture that allows our people to thrive, deliver excellent customer service and look to a sustainable future while always continuing to do what we do best – connecting Britain with the world and the world with Britain.”

First lounge T5 change

The other piece of good news for those that want a quiet place to work is that BA has listened to feedback and reinstated a new work area in the First lounge at Heathrow T5. The previous area featured high and low seating and was fairly large. It was removed to make way for the sleep pods and only a few places near the terrace remained which were not ideal if you wanted somewhere quiet.

The new work area is adjacent to where it was before in the old Champagne bar area. At the moment there’s just a central space around where the bar was with sockets but it’s better than nothing. This is area was normally fairly deserted so it makes sense to put it there. In the summer it’s also a good place to sit if you are finding the lounge too hot as it’s at least a couple of degrees cooler on a warm day. 

Thanks to Alexis for the use of the picture.