Plan to rescue UK tourists
EasyJet grounds all planes but pledges to operate flights to collect stranded Britons abroad
EasyJet grounds all planes but pledges to operate flights to collect stranded Britons abroad
THE UK has announced a deal with airlines to fly back British tourists stranded around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Boris Johnson’s government has pledged up to £75 million to pay airlines for the additional charter flights to ensure tickets are affordable.
Once special flights have been arranged, these will be promoted through the government’s travel advice and by the British embassies in Spain and other countries where the Britons are stranded, according to a press release from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. British travellers who want a seat on a flight will book and pay directly through a dedicated travel management company, they noted,
The global travel situation caused by coronavirus has led to an ‘unprecedented challenge’ with many countries closing borders and imposing travel restrictions with little warning, leaving thousands of UK travellers struggling to get home.
“Virgin, Easyjet, Jet2 and Titan Airways have today signed a memorandum of understanding negotiated by the foreign secretary and transport secretary,” noted a government spokesman.
“British Airways have also made clear that they will work with us in the national interest to get people home, and other airlines are expected to join.”
They are encouraging airlines to ‘recognise their responsibility for transporting their passengers with pre-booked tickets home, through offering them alternatives where routes are cancelled, allowing them to change tickets, where permissible – including between carriers – and offering them the latest information and advice as the situation changes’.
“Where commercial routes do not exist, the government will provide up to £75 million financial support to enable special charter flights – operated by the airlines above and others – to fly to priority countries to bring back UK residents,” noted the spokesman.
Foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said on Monday: “We’ve already worked with airlines and governments to enable hundreds of thousands to return home on commercial flights, and we will keep as many of those options open as possible.
“The arrangements agreed today will provide a clearer basis to organise special charter flights where Britons find themselves stranded.
“Our priority will always be the most vulnerable.”
According to the foreign office press release, when special return flights become available, these will be advertised by on UK government travel advice pages and British Embassy social media, and those who have registered for updates will be contacted via email.
“British nationals will be asked to register their interest through our booking agents CTM,” adds the press release.
“We have also tripled the capacity of the FCO’s call centre to ensure that people in emergency situations around the world are able to get assistance.”
EasyJet grounds planes until further notice
Budget airline EasyJet has grounded its entire fleet of planes, the company announced on Monday.
In a statement, the airline announced: “As a result of the unprecedented travel restrictions imposed by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of national lockdowns across many European countries. EasyJet has, today, fully grounded its entire fleet of aircraft.”
They noted that they have been ‘helping to repatriate customers, having operated more than 650 rescue flights to date, returning home more than 45,000 customers’.
“The last of these rescue flights were operated on Sunday, March 29,” stated a company spokesman.
“We will continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested.”
The statement notes that ‘at this stage there can be no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights’.
“We will continuously evaluate the situation based on regulations and demand, and will update the market when we have a view,” they stated.
BA ends Gatwick flights
British Airways announced on Tuesday that it was suspending all remaining flights to and from Gatwick, ending the last scheduled flights by UK carriers from the airport during the coronavirus pandemic.
BA said it would contact customers to discuss their options.
A BA spokesman said: “Due to the considerable restrictions and challenging market environment, like many other airlines we will temporarily suspend our flying schedule at Gatwick.”
Gatwick closed one of its two terminals from Wednesday and is only operating remaining flights between 14.00 and 22.00 to cut costs to a minimum during the crisis.