WE ARE ALL GOING ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY
Threat of quarantine does not stop Scots jetting off to the sun after three months of lockdown
DEFIANT Scots holidaymakers vowed to jet off to the sun despite Nicola Sturgeon stalling on the use of ‘air bridges’.
Travellers packed airports across the country yesterday despite non-essential travel warnings remaining in place.
Destinations for some of the first flights out since lockdown included Spain, Florida, Mallorca and the Faroes.
Edinburgh airport yesterday saw its busiest day since lockdown began, with staff and passengers walking through the terminal wearing masks.
For many, it was a much-needed remedy after months of not working and being stuck inside. Lindsay Park, 40, was jetting off to Malaga for six weeks with her husband Jamie, 42, and their children Olivia, aged 11 and Grace, nine.
Mrs Park, who works for her husband’s construction company in Glasgow, said: ‘We are not worried about going, we just thought we have to go for it.
‘I don’t think we will have to quarantine when we come back, I think it will all be sorted out by next week.
‘We signed for a flat out there in March, but then we went into lockdown, so this is the first opportunity we have had to go.
‘I thought Nicola Sturgeon was doing a great job but not any more. It just seems like everything Boris Johnson says, she wants to fight about it. I think there needs to be more clarity for travellers, and Nicola needs to sort it out.
‘We are not nervous or worried about flying, and we know when we are there we will just stick to the rules and it’ll be fine.’
Mr Park’s father, Colin, 68, and his partner Sylvia Bird, 68, are joining the family on the holiday – after they joined households to become a family ‘bubble’.
Cameron Miller, 27, a restaurant manager from Edinburgh, blamed Miss Sturgeon’s insistence on keeping the two-metre rule in place for his jaunt off to the Faroe Islands.
He said: ‘I can’t work so I’m going to the Faroe Islands and then somewhere near for a week for a holiday.
‘I’m not bothered by quarantine as the restaurants can’t open. It’s impossible with the two-metre rule and by the time it’s set up – I’ll be fine by then.’
Darren Nelson, 34, a stonemason from Edinburgh said: ‘I haven’t worked since March. The quarantine and lockdown is just too much. So I decided to book a plane and go. I managed to get a place at Alicante.
‘The airline got in touch advising us of the possibility of quarantine but it’s a chance I’m willing to take. You are taking the risk when you go out.
‘You can take all the precautions yourself and there’s still a chance of catching it.’
Also heading for the Spanish sun was Anne Aitken, 64 a retired respiratory nurse from Kinross.
She said: ‘I think it’s a bit crazy myself but why not? I’m going because my husband and I have a place in Alhama de Murcia that we’ve been going to for six years.
‘I’m a wee bit concerned about getting back in and if I don’t I’ll kill my husband. He went out last week and isn’t too worried.
‘If she (Sturgeon) does put us in quarantine I won’t see my grandchildren for two weeks – but I need to see how my husband is managing. He says it’s safer there than here. Hand gel and masks for everything.’
Nikki Coulter, 38, from Edinburgh was flying to Alicante, where her parents live, for a holiday with her children Lewis, six and Lannah, seven. She said: ‘We booked the flight on Monday and decided to go. I own a beauty parlour and the kids don’t go back to school till August 27. So quarantine won’t be an issue for us.’
Emma Campos, 36, was flying to Alicante with her partner Inigo Grijalba, 37, and their two children, Naia, aged four and Iker, aged one.
The couple, from Glasgow, are going on holiday for four weeks, and will visit their family in Spain, before coming back on August 6.
Mr Grijalba, who is a primary school teacher, said: ‘I am worried about having to quarantine when we come back because of my job.
‘If I had to be off it would be very disruptive. But we will be checking the news every day to see what’s happening.
‘We are hopeful we won’t have to quarantine when we come back.’
And it was not just holidaymakers queuing up – ex-pats who have homes in Europe were also desperate to get back.
For offshore worker Lee Edwards, 41, it was a chance to finally get back home to see his daughter, who lives with her mother on the Alicante coast. He was offshore when lockdown came into effect and has been living in Aberdeen since lockdown was imposed.
Mr Edwards, who was flying out with his partner Katie Thompson and her girls Chloe and Rosie, said: ‘I’ve been out there for 13 years now. I’ve got a daughter in Spain and I’ve not seen her since February. So that’s me going back to finally see her after four months.
‘It’s been hard. But you’ve just got to get on with it.’
Also on the same flight was fellow offshore worker Alex Best, 60.
He was finally heading back home to Torrevieja following a stint working in Africa, where he found himself stranded when flights got grounded due to the pandemic.
He said: ‘I’m desperate to get home. I’ve already lost money on two flights. To me the whole thing
‘You’ve just got to get on with it’
has been a joke. I got medical checks in Angola. The only place that I’ve been stopped from travelling – all the way from Angola – was outside Montrose.
‘That’s only because I stopped in a layby to have a bacon butty and a coffee and a police car pulled in behind me.’
Brian Swinney, 60, has been a resident of Spain for the past three years. He lives in a village in the Murcia region and very nearly made it home from his working trip to Scotland when lockdown dashed his hopes – in mid-air. He said: ‘When lockdown happened I was actually on my way home.
‘I was on a Jet2 flight from Glasgow and it turned around over France and I found myself in lockdown in Scotland. I work in Aberdeen’s oil industry so I rotate back and forth from Spain.
‘I had my 60th birthday here when I was actually due to go to Singapore and Vietnam. I ended up in lockdown instead.’
‘It’s fantastic to be going back. I’m dying for this. I tried to get back a number of times but the flights just kept getting cancelled.’
Robert Cunningham, 65, and his wife were one of the few people on the Aberdeen to Alicante flight who were heading on holiday.
He said: ‘We waited until we knew that RyanAir was flying then we booked it.
‘We’re away for a month, staying in an apartment in Torrevieja. If we have to quarantine we will just stay longer in Spain.
‘Our plans are just to enjoy the sunshine and the beer.’