Roadmap to Recovery
Quarantine set to stay for long-haul
Ian Taylor
Much of the world beyond Europe will remain out of bounds to UK travellers until Covid-19 testing is introduced at airports, with travel restrictions set to remain in place. Prime minister Boris Johnson
told MPs on Tuesday: “Every serious country that has this disease under control has brought in quarantine for people coming into their country. We don’t want to see our country reinfected by travellers.” Industry sources expect
restrictions to remain into next year despite travel companies’ demands to scrap quarantine. An aviation source said: “We’re
trying to get the government to remove the blanket quarantine and replace it with a risk-based approach and a system of checks. Why can’t we have long-haul travel to places with lower infection rates than here? Hopefully, we’ll see some long-haul at the six-week review [of quarantine].” But travel to the US will remain
unlikely “given the infection rates in the country”, said the source, and “there will definitely be quarantine restrictions to countries in a very
different place to us”. Restrictions are likely to remain for countries not only with higher infection rates than Britain, but also those with significantly lower rates, such as New Zealand, which will retain their own quarantine measures. The source said: “The government
will have to impose restrictions to a large part of the world, but could do testing at airports.” An airline source said: “We
know there is no chance of certain destinations opening. “If you rely on long-haul, it will be
extremely difficult. “Testing could be useful, but it
would need to be a robust system so people couldn’t cheat. “Testing everyone on arrival is
not feasible. The volume of travel to Britain means you could not do it [and] it’s expensive.” Airport ground-handler Swissport
and management services firm Collinson plan a trial of Covid-19 tests on arriving passengers at a UK airport next month. The results should be available
within seven to 24 hours, removing the need for 14-day quarantine for those testing negative.
The PM this week said UK hotels and restaurants can
reopen from July 4 Overseas breaks Ian Taylor
UK outbound travel to EU holiday destinations should resume from July 4, with the government poised to confirm travel corridors to up to 10 countries by the start of next week. The announcement will
come amid a general easing of restrictions after prime minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Tuesday that UK hotels, restaurants and attractions can reopen from July 4. However, there is frustration in the industry at the lack of information from ministers. An airline source said: “It’s
Arrivals to the UK will be tested for Covid-19 in a trial at an airport in July
4 25 JUNE 2020
to fly to Spain, but what are the criteria? There is frustration among airlines. They would like some transparency. If countries are not on the list they will want to know why.” A second aviation source said:
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“The government has bunkered down on this. As soon as we get the first travel corridors, it will open things up. But we don’t think travel will be EU-wide on June 29. We’ll probably see a broader EU opening at the
six-week review.” That would be due by July 20,
with additional corridors likely to open from July 25. A third industry source said:
moving in the right direction. European corridors are a no-brainer, but we still don’t know the criteria [for deciding these]. Fine, if it’s OK
“The government will trail bits of information [on air corridors] this week, but the announcement is expected on June 29. Travel will be to a small number of countries.” France, Spain, Greece, Italy,
travelweekly.co.uk
Albufeira in line to b the first w destinatio for ‘air co
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