450 Romanian fruit pickers fly in to keep supermarket shelves full

Fruit and vegetable pickers are to be flown from Romania to the UK on charter flights in spite of the coronavirus lockdown to keep up with demand for labour, it has emerged.

An air charter company said it has arranged for a flight to bring up to 180 Eastern European farm workers to Stansted Airport in Essex today. It has been reported that up to five more flights are planned bringing around 450 people in total.

The National Farmers’ Union has expressed concern about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on recruitment of workers to pick fruit and vegetables this summer.

Demand for groceries surged as people stockpiled food due to the outbreak, but recruitment of migrant labour had already become more difficult following the UK’S exit from the EU.

Romania has lifted travel restrictions to allow labourers to do seasonal work around Europe.

Surrey-based Air Charter Service (ACS) said a farming company in the UK has paid for today’s flight. It did not name the firm.

An Airbus A320 aircraft will be used, at an estimated cost of £200-£250 per seat.

This is much more expensive than typical air fares with low-cost carriers, but nearly all scheduled commercial flights have been grounded as a result of travel restrictions and the collapse in demand caused by Covid-19.

Matthew Purton, the head of commercial aviation at ACS, said: “All passengers will be temperature checked, will have to fill in a questionnaire for a health declaration and will be given hand sanitiser and masks on the flight. They will also be socially distanced in the seating.”

At least 10 other flights have been arranged by ACS to take farm workers from Romania and Bulgaria to Germany.