Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE’LL GET QA &
£75m to get 60,000 stranded flyers back
The Foreign Office says only travel abroad if essential until at least April 15. A holiday will not be considered essential.
Your provider may offer a Refund Credit Note to book a later break.
Never travel abroad without a suitable policy.
If the FO advises against your destination, your firm will contact you to discuss options. There is no obligation to give a refund.
Probably best to carry on paying or you lose what you’ve already paid.
TENS of thousands of people stranded overseas will be brought home in a £75million airlift.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab promised charter planes would be sent to help those who had no access to regular services as borders shut and airlines ground their fleets.
He urged travellers to take commercial flights where possible, but up to 60,000 will be brought home on the special flights starting this week, with tickets expected to cost between £250 and £500,
It followed claims that some UK holidaymakers were being asked tens of thousands of pounds to fly home from destinations such as Australia.
Mr Raab said the Government will provide the “necessary financial support” for the charter flights in partnership with British Airway, Virgin, Easyjet, Jet2 and Titan.
It came as easyjet grounded its entire fleet yesterday.
Mr Raab added: “Once special charter flights have been arranged, we will promote them through the
Government’s travel advice and by the British embassy or High Commission in the relevant country.
“British travellers who want a seat on those flights will book and pay directly through a dedicated travel management company. We have designated £75million to support those flights and the airlines in order to keep the costs down for those seeking to return to the UK.”
Priority will be given to the most vulnerable passengers, including the elderly or those with medical needs, and to countries where large numbers are trying to return.
Mr Raab estimated hundreds of thousands are still stranded overseas, after around 150,000 were helped back from Spain, 8,500 from Morocco and 5,000 from Cyprus.
He added: “We’ve not faced challenges like this in getting people home from abroad on this scale in recent memory.”
But stranded flyers have criticised the lack of clarity in the plans.
Adam Bradford, 27, from Sheffield, is stuck in Benin and said it was unclear what was meant by a priority country. In Africa since January as a Commonwealth ambassador for the Queen’s Young Leaders
BLASTS LACK OF CLARITY
OIL prices plummeted to an 18-year low yesterday due to the pandemic.
A price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia had already caused prices to drop before Covid-19 took hold.
Yesterday crude crashed another 8% to below $23 a barrel, the lowest since the fallout of the stock market crash in 2002, while the West Texas Intermediate fell below $20 a barrel and brent crude tumbled more than 10% to just over youth scheme, he had his flight cancelled two weeks ago and tickets now top £4,000. He said of Mr Raab’s pledge: “It’s good words, but actions need to follow.”
Brian Sangha, 72, a councillor for Gravesham in Kent, said he is one of about 100 British citizens stranded in and around the Indian city of Jalandhar. He said: “What constitutes as vulnerable and how do we get people from where they are into the airports?
“People travel in groups such as families – what does that mean for
$22 a barrel. This could lower pump prices if retailers pass it on, but fewer cars on the road may negate this boost.
The nationwide average for unleaded stands at 118.33p per litre, down from almost 122p in mid-march, while diesel has plunged from 124p to 120.41p.
Fiona Cincotta, market analyst at
City Index, said oil prices won’t recover until an end date for global lockdowns is decided, or “excess supply dwindles”.