NEWS


France may be removed from quarantine-exempt list


Quarantine list is crippling outbound sector’s restart


Ian Taylor


The removal of countries from the government’s travel corridors list each week is causing the outbound sector’s restart to stall. Belgium, the Bahamas


and Andorra followed Spain in being removed from the list on Saturday, while Malaysia and Brunei were added to the quarantine exemption list from Tuesday. The list is now updated weekly


STORY TOP


of reciprocity” if the UK imposed quarantine on France. The media also reported quarantine rules could be lifted on Portugal although not until the end of the month. An airline source said: “The industry lobbied strongly not to have another Spain situation and the government has taken that on board. We had 48 hours’ warning [of Belgium


being removed]. Some people want


following a government meeting on Wednesdays, with an announcement on Thursdays. Media reports suggested the


government would remove France from the quarantine-exempt list this week. French officials said the country would respond “as a matter


travelweekly.co.uk


more than that, but if the government needs to do it, they need to do it.” The source welcomed the


addition of Malaysia, noting “Kuala Lumpur is the first long-haul hub to come back”, but said: “The restart is taking longer than anticipated. Volumes are massively down.” A leisure industry source


described the added notice as “the


lesser of two evils”, saying: “The Belgium announcement allowed people to make return plans. [But] we still need clarity from the government to give customers confidence. More-nuanced Foreign Office advice would help.” Alan Bowen, advisor to the


Association of Atol Companies, said: “Ireland took Cyprus and Malta off its [travel] list last week and now has only 10 countries on it. I suspect we’ll be close to that here. Things are getting worse. Last-minute bookings are just not there.” Bowen noted that if Portugal


returns at the end of the month “the season is gone” and said: “We need nuanced advice, but it’s beginning to look like it’s expecting too much.” He pointed out a Majorca hotel – the all-inclusive Club Cala Barca –


closed on Sunday after 10 staff tested positive for Covid and said: “The government was probably right about Spain.” Abta called for ‘regional travel


corridors’ saying: “This would avoid situations where entire countries are added to the quarantine list.” An airline source involved in talks


with ministers said: “We’re pushing for regional corridors and testing. But this is really difficult. It’s going to take weeks. There are doubts about the credibility of testing. The government doesn’t believe you can do it with one test. So we’re looking at a test before departure or on arrival and a second after eight days. “There is a lot of concern about


false negative [results] and people with infections coming into the country.”


13 AUGUST 2020 5


PICTURE: Shutterstock


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34