Flights cancelled at county airport

FLIGHTS to and from East Midlands Airport have been cancelled as fears grow about the new strain of coronavirus in the UK.

Early yesterday, all ferries from Dover to Calais were stopped and since then more than 30 countries across Europe and further afield have banned flights from British airports.

It was reported that three departures and four arrivals were cancelled at the Leicestershire airport, including flights to Madeira, Ireland and Germany.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during the weekend that a steep rise of coronavirus cases in South East England was due to a new variant of the disease being discovered.

At the same time, he announced a Tier 4 lockdown for some parts of the country – a new higher level with non-essential shops having to close and people being ordered to stay at home unless travelling for work or education.

SHORT NOTICE CHANGE

According to the airport website, there were seven flights affected by new travel restrictions yesterday. These included a 10.25am flight to Madeira, the 11.55am departure to Berlin and a 9.10pm service to Dublin.

The arrivals cancelled were due to come from Riga in Latvia, Berlin, Madeira and Dublin.

The only passenger flights using the airport yesterday were to and from Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

A statement from East Midlands Airport said: “Due to recent developments with the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of countries have imposed restrictions on flights arriving from the UK.

“While East Midlands airport remains open, many flights are subject to short notice change or cancellation.

“If you are due to be flying to a country with restrictions in place, please check with your airline before travelling to the airport.

“We encourage all our passengers to monitor any updates from their airlines, who will be providing further information as this situation develops.”