Rage at ‘ban’ on foreign holidays
Airlines, airports and travel firms brand plan to force returning Brits to quarantine for 14 days ‘catastrophic hammer blow’ for tourist industry AUGUST 2019 AUGUST 2020?
AIRLINES and tour operators have reacted with fury to Government plans to force all travellers to the UK to be placed in quarantine for a fortnight – including British citizens returning from holiday.
The move – first revealed last month by The Mail on Sunday – is intended to prevent a second peak of the Covid-19 virus sweeping the country later this year.
But companies have described it as an effective ‘ban’ on foreign holidays because most people would not be prepared to pay the price of having to self-isolate for 14 days after every overseas trip.
The measures, expected to be introduced early next month, would require travellers to provide an address at which they will stay for the two weeks. Transgressors caught through spot checks would be fined up to £1,000 or deported, under powers introduced by the Coronavirus Act.
The emergency legislation gives immigration officials the power to remove a potentially infectious person to a suitable place for screening and assessment, and for public health officers to enforce restrictions on movement.
The new measures would be backed by a global communications campaign to warn travelact lers what to expect if they come to the UK. Other countries, such as Singapore, introduced similar provisions much earlier in their battle against the virus. Airlines will hold a call with Ministers to discuss the proposals later today.
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, said it would not restart flying if the UK imposed a quarantine. He said: ‘If there is a 14-day quarantine, I wouldn’t expect us to be doing any flying in that situation, or very little flying.’
He added he could not see ‘an environment where people will want to fly into the UK if they are forced to quarantine for 14 days’.
A spokesman for Gatwick Airport described the plan as ‘a massive blow for the aviation industry’ which ‘will have a devastating impact on our ability to maintain vital connections, for trade and more generally, for tourism’.
The spokesman added: ‘To avert the catastrophic impact of further job losses, we urge the Government and in particular, the Treasury, to decisively by providing economic counter-balance measures to give special relief to Gatwick and other UK airports.
‘In particular, we call on the Government for a clear, time-bound exit strategy from quarantine, to
‘Those caught breaking the rules risk £1,000 fine’
be reviewed on a weekly basis. This proposal risks decimating air travel.’
ABTA, the body representing travel agents, said that ‘any new measures should be proportionate, led by the best possible medical and scientific advice, and able to adapt swiftly to take into account any changes in this advice’.
Karen Dee, the chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said: ‘If the Government believe quarantine is medically necessary, then it should be applied on a selective basis following the science, there should be a clear exit strategy and the economic impact on key sectors should be mitigated.’
Airlines UK, the trade body representing UK carriers, said: ‘This proposal would effectively kill international travel to and from the UK and cause immeasurable damage to the aviation industry and the wider UK economy. Nobody is
going to go on holiday if they’re not able to resume normal life for 14 days.’
Former ABTA director and founder of Vivid Travel, Kane Pirie, said: ‘Fourteen days of isolation will be another hammer blow for both inbound and outbound tourism.
‘Trust will be key for 2021 bookings and that is why travel companies should be refunding properly now. No excuses.
‘Consumers will remember vividly how their travel company has treated them during this coronavirus crisis.’
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last night appeared to justify the expected new quarantine rule by indicating it would be unfair to expect the British people to stay at home while not requiring those coming into the country to self-isolate.
He said: ‘Bearing in mind the sacrifice the British people have made this last seven weeks and counting, we can’t have a situation where everyone else is being asked to stay at home but others could come into the country.
‘It’s also worth pointing out that the numbers coming into the country are very, very small.’
At the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Mr Shapps also rejected claims that the Government risked sending out mixed messages by loosening rules to allow garden centres to open in England but tightening restrictions at borders.
Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam insisted that the message was ‘quite consistent’, suggesting the Government was adopting a ‘more filtered way’ as opposed to a ‘blunderbuss approach’.
A 14-day quarantine of arrivals has already been implemented in dozens of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Greece.
Japan and Hong Kong introduced Covid-19 tests for all arrivals in mid-January, with those testing positive immediately taken to hospital, and those who test negative placed in isolation. More than 130 countries have introduced some form of travel restriction, quarantine and bans on travel from high-risk areas.
Since January, officials in China and other countries in the Far East and Middle East have been using infrared cameras to screen travellers with high temperatures. Those who appear red on the screen are singled out for a consultation by health professionals and, in some cases, tested for the disease.
Lorry drivers bringing in vital supplies to the UK could be exempt from the clampdown.
Yvette Cooper MP, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: ‘Many other countries, including South Korea, Italy and Australia, introduced similar measures many weeks and months ago, so it appears that the Government is playing catch-up at the borders.’
‘Ministers are playing catch-up at our borders’