Travel sector fury over restrictions for arrivals from southern Africa, as Covid variant threatens
Travel industry leaders have reacted with fury to the decision to put six southern African countries on the red list.
The Government was accused of a "knee-jerk" reaction to fears over a new variant of coronavirus.
South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia were put on the UK'S red list at noon on Friday.
Passengers arriving from those countries after 4am on Sunday will be required to spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel at a cost of £2,285.
Those arriving before then will need to self-isolate at home for 10 days and take
additional coronavirus tests.
Direct flights from the six countries are banned until the hotel quarantine scheme resumes, leading to cancellations
by airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
The measures were announced by Health Secretary
Sajid Javid on social media shortly before 9pm on Thursday.
Travel consultancy The PC Agency estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 British citizens are in South Africa on temporary visits.
The firm's chief executive Paul Charles accused ministers of making "another kneejerk decision".
He said: "While Government has to act swiftly on any serious threats, it should be steering away from imposing blanket country measures such as flight bans.
"It would be better to assess travellers based on their individual risk, and ask fully jabbed consumers to test regularly at home.”