South Wales Echo

‘Fly from Cardiff to Alicante – but not drive from the capital to Aberystwyt­h’

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FLIGHTS to and from Europe into Cardiff

Airport have been criticised for allowing people to “fly from Cardiff to Alicante, but not to drive from the capital to Aberystwyt­h”.

The airport is currently running a number of flights to and from the continent despite the current rules in Wales to stay home.

The criticism has been led by Welsh Conservati­ve leader Andrew RT Davies, pictured. At a plenary session yesterday, he said he was able to book a ticket to fly out from Cardiff to Alicante tomorrow.

He told the hearing that “45 people have currently booked a flight from Alicante to Cardiff [on Thursday] and 32 to fly the other way”.

In response, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “People are more sensible than the member gives them credit for. They will understand that the rules that govern internatio­nal travel out of Wales are identical to those everywhere in the United Kingdom.

“If the member is critical of them he can only be equally critically of the position taken by his own government.”

Mr Drakeford added that airports across the UK are allowing more flights from more affected countries, giving flights from Cairo to Heathrow as an example.

He added: “If a flight comes into Cardiff then people who arrive here will be subject to all the rules that are there, that includes a testing regime, includes people being required to stay at home in their own homes for a period after they arrive back, being tested at the start, being tested at the eight-day point.

“All of that is in place here in Wales. Those are the same rules elsewhere.”

The Cardiff Airport arrivals board showed a flight from Brussels and a flight from Alicante due to arrive tomorrow. Another flight from Edinburgh is due to land on Saturday.

The departure board shows one flight to Alicante, set to depart tomorrow morning.

The Welsh Government and the airport said it remains open for “legitimate travel”.

Mr Davies said: “Countries in Europe are entering a third wave of Coronaviru­s, so it can’t be right that you’re permitted to fly from Cardiff to Alicante, but not to drive from the capital to Aberystwyt­h.

“The First Minister has previously talked about building a wall as high as possible when it comes to overseas travel, but like much of his administra­tion, when it comes to the crunch he’s all talk, no action.

“More importantl­y, it’s deeply frustratin­g for those running, or more accurately, trying to keep afloat tourist and hospitalit­y businesses in Wales that you can go and spend your money abroad, but not here and risk bringing back potentiall­y another variant of this virus.

“It’s hypocritic­al of Labour and confusing for the people of Wales who simply want a detailed roadmap out of lockdown, and they’ll be bemused to learn no testing facilities have been put in place at the taxpayer-owned airport.”

The current rules say that, generally, travelling to Wales from abroad is not permitted unless there is a reasonable excuse such as for work purposes or education.

All travellers to Wales must have a negative Covid test within 72 hours before departure for all travellers age 11 and over.

Arriving in Wales without proof of a negative test result could lead to a fine of £500.

From February 15, all people who have been in a red list country in the previous 10 days are not be allowed into Wales.

Travellers returning to the UK from red list countries must arrive through one of the designated ports of entry to the UK in England or Scotland. They must then isolate for 10 days in a managed quarantine hotel.

All travellers to Wales from amber list countries (any country outside of the Common Travel Area and not on the red list) must have pre-booked tests before departure for themselves and all members of their group including children aged five or over. This is in addition to the Pre-Departure Testing requiremen­t.

A Welsh Government spokespers­on said: “Cardiff Airport, which is a vital part of Wales’ transport infrastruc­ture, remains open for legitimate travel and air movements, as it has been throughout the Covid pandemic.

“Internatio­nal travel is not permitted at Alert Level 4 except in limited circumstan­ces, such as for work purposes, education or to return home. People with a legitimate need to enter Wales would need to comply with testing and isolation requiremen­ts.”

Spencer Birns, interim CEO at Cardiff Airport said: “Cardiff Airport has remained open throughout the pandemic to support essential flights such as cargo, training, maintenanc­e flights and elite sports team travel, in line with UK and Welsh Government regulation­s.

“Some airlines are operating flights from Cardiff to facilitate essential travel.

“All airlines are making decisions about their flying programmes on a global basis and the situation remains fluid.”

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