Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1259447
4 MASSIMO COSTA LOW-COST airlines are offering flights between Malta and a num- ber of countries which the island has not yet announced it will be opening its borders to. Budget carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air are selling tickets online for the month of July to destina- tions – including France, the UK, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Po- land, Serbia and North Macedo- nia – which are not amongst the countries which Malta will open its airport to. Malta's airport will reopen on 1 July, with travel restrictions being lifted to 18 safe corridor coun- tries which have controlled the spread of COVID-19. Travel will be resuming to and from the Italian regions of Sicily and Sardinia, Iceland, Slovakia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Switzerland, Estonia, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, Czechia, Finland and Ireland. On Thursday, Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli announced that the government was also in "advanced discussions" with five other countries to which travel will also be opened. She did not specifically name them. While it is not officially known which additional countries Mal- ta will be reopening to, low-cost carriers have already made avail- able flight tickets to destinations not yet on the official list. Through the Ryanair website, MaltaToday was able to choose direct flights to destinations in- cluding London Luton airport in the UK, Nantes in France and Athens in Greece for dates in Ju- ly. Through Wizz Air, tickets for non-stop flights to Bulgaria, Ro- mania, Poland, Serbia and North Macedonia could be acquired. In all these cases, the airline's web platform allows clients to enter payment details, and there- fore effectively buying the tickets. It is not yet clear when or how passengers would be reimbursed after buying tickets to destina- tions which Malta would not yet have opened its doors to by the date of the trip. On Thursday, the European Commission recommended that member states in the Schengen area, as well as associated states, lift internal border controls by 15 June. Despite this pressure, Malta has stuck to its July date for lifting re- strictions. Although the government has named 18 countries which the is- land will reopen its borders to, a schedule issued by Malta Airport this week lists only nine – Aus- tria, Czechia, Denmark, Germa- ny, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lux- embourg and Switzerland. According to the schedule, Air Malta, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Lufthansa, Luxair and Swissair will be operating their respective commercial flights between Mal- ta and the nine destinations in the beginning of July. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JUNE 2020 NEWS LCCs sell destinations not yet on Malta's safe corridor list No COVID insurance on travel TRAVEL insurance claims aris- ing directly or indirectly from COVID-19 related events are likely to be excluded from stand- ard policies. A majority of insurance compa- nies will not be covering pandem- ic-related events for travellers, according to the Malta Insurance Association. "Insurance companies will be abiding by exclusions issued in March, when the pandemic broke out. Such exclusions are issued on an individual basis, with parameters laid out by the specific insurance compa- nies," Charles Zarb of the MIA said. Travellers will be allowed to go abroad to a list of 18 'safe corridor' countries that include two regions in Italy, as approved by the Maltese govern- ment. But travel insur- ance will not be adapted to specific destinations which might have high numbers of positive COVID-19 cases. "There is no cover for loss- es arising directly or indirectly from COVID-19, therefore the number of positive individuals in a country has no bearing on the premium," Keith Tanti from At- las Insurance said. And the price of travel insur- ance will not be changing despite the limited number of destina- tions available to travellers. "This has no bearing on the premium of travel insurance so this has not changed," Tanti said. But travellers will have no costs covered from insurances if they are forced to quarantine upon ar- rival to a destination. People will only be covered for cancellations tied to specific conditions only. "If you booked a flight or a hotel in January, but you are choos- ing to not travel to that destination in the coming months without providing a spe- cific reason for that cancellation for example the disruption of flights or the closing down of an accommo- dation, you will not be reimbursed," Charles Zarb said. 14 th June 2020 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014- 2020 ANNOUNCEMENT (Sub-Measure 2.1) Measure 2.1: Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services The Director General of the Funds and Programmes Division, within the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds announces the launching of Measure 2.1 'Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services' under the Rural Development Pro- gramme 2014-2020. The final applications under this Measure will be received on Fri- day 30 th October 2020, noon, unless otherwise notified by the Managing Authority on its website. This measure 2.1 aims to provide assistance to farmers through recognised Farm Ad- visory Service entities. The use of advisory services for the agricultural sector com- plements the purpose of measures to improve human potential through training and by providing incentives to farmers to seek direct advice to address their specific situation. The eligible beneficiaries for support under this measure are advisory Service Provid- ers as recognised by the Farm Advisory Service Registration Board (FASRB), Legal Notice 99 of 2019. Beneficiaries will receive 100% of the total eligible costs, wherein a capping is applicable. The end beneficiary shall be the recipients of advice (farmers, whether natural or legal persons) that apply for advisory assistance in relation to their agricultural activities. Further details on the application process will be published in due course on the web- sites of the Managing Authority www.eufunds.gov.mt and www.eufundsmalta.gov.mt. Any interested applicants (Service Providers) are invited to register their interest in this measure via e-mail on rdd.mfea@gov.mt or 2200 1137. The MA may invite registered interested applicants for an information session.