The UK vaccine roll out continues to be a great success, and credit where credit is due. 

 

The UK government involved the military and their planning expertise has come up trumps. What an amazing success story. 

 

With lockdown easing and case rates and thankfully death rates declining, the 17th May is fast approaching. This is the date on the road map when some foreign travel may be allowed 

 

Of course there will be stipulations and caveats, however the traffic light system should make the decision on which country to visit fairly straight forward . 

 

The next blog I hope will list the green countries. So many unconfirmed reports are suggesting most of Europe will be open and others are saying only 8 eu countries. Almost all reports suggest America will be open along with Australia. 

 

All we can hope for is that safe and convenient travel reopens around the world. This will benefit the global economy and people's businesses and of course peoples mental health. 

 

So please continue to be wise and sensible and let's hope coronavirus continues to be driven out of people's lives. 

 

Let's get moving... 

 

PPTmk 

Following the news of the UK Governments lockdown roadmap, TUI are cancelling all holidays from the UK until May 16. Foreign travel could resume from May 17, subject to a UK Government review in April. 

The cancellations also apply to departures from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Holidays departing from the ROI are cancelled up to April 5. 

Any booked passengers will be contacted by TUI, who said they will be prioritising holidaymakers in departure date order over the next two weeks. Those with affected holidays will be given choices which will include changing to a later date, a refund credit note, or cancelling with a full refund.  

 

The company have issued the following statement for their customers : 

Many, if not all airlines are having to operate ghost flights to cope with the impact of COVID-19 schedules, which of course has seen a devastating impact on the airlines movements around the world. A ghost flight is when a plane fly’s without passengers, and typically lands back at the airport they took off from. Sometimes these flights can be for as little as half an hour. 

 

In normal times, a ghost flight would happen for a couple of reasons. It could be in order to go and collect stranded passengers from an airport that has a stricken plane. This happened to us a couple of years ago in Italy (very long story). It can also be in order to move a plane from one location to another. During the current covid pandemic, the vast majority of ghost flights are now in order to keep the aircraft “ticking over” (a bit like taking a car for a quick run to keep the fluids moving around the engine and gearbox).  

As the worlds battle with coronavirus continues, along with the great success of the UK vaccine roll out, unfortunately the aviation business has been dealt yet another blow. 

 

In order to try and contain new variants (mainly Brazil and South African), as mentioned in my previous blog, a red list of approximately 30 countries has come into effect. Most of us (me included), presumed these new rules took immediate effect from when the home secretary announced them several days ago. Alas not, they come into law from Monday 15th February. 

 

They are not too straight forward, and I have tried to understand them myself, and I hope a few lines from Matt Hancock,s Commons statement earlier today will help !!! (good luck) 

The UK Government have announced new quarantine hotel rules for ANYONE arriving at a UK airport. 

 

At the time of writing, a total of 30 countries are on a 'Red" list 

 

These countries are in South America and South Africa AND Portugal. This is due to two new strains of Covid-19 originating from these areas. 

PLEASE NOTE this list can change at any time 

 

If you fly into the UK from these countries AND even if you are a UK citizen, you will be bussed to a quarantine hotel, where you will have to stay for 10 days. This is at your cost. 

 

If you fly in from elsewhere, you will still need to quarrintine for 10 days (5 if another negative Covid test result) at your house or other declared address. 

It has just been announced by the U.K. government, that travellers will be banned from entering the U.K. from NEXT Thursday, 14th January 2021, if they DO NOT have a negative Covid test result within 72 hours of departure. 

 

The 10 day quarantine period remains, even with a negative Covid test result. 

 

The early test and release system also remains. 

 

Thie COVID ngative test result system has been in place by many governments around the world for several months 

The hard hit aviation industry has had some "good" news 

 

From the 15th December, people arriving in the UK MAY BE ABLE TO REDUCE their quarantine period from 14 to 5 days 

 

This will depend on a negative Covid-19 test result 

 

The test will be paid for by the traveller (expected cost £60 - £120) and must be carried out by an approved testing provider from day 5 of quarantine 

 

If the result is negative, the traveller can end their quarantine period and finish self isolation 

 

Although not AMAZING news, at least it is something positive... 

 

Let's hope the world starts returning to normal, sooner rather than later... 

 

Best wishes 

Thankyou 

PPT 

A new airline Covid 19 5 star safety rating for airlines has just been announced 

 

British Airways and Lufthansa are the first airlines to be graded, and both have been awarded 4 stars 

 

This appears NOT to be government led, but a new system introduced by SKYTRAX. This organisation rates airlines and airports around the world for customer service and procedures implemented by the relevant authorities. It's a similar company to JD Power, who rate motor manufacturers and dealers for customer service and satisfaction. Like JD Power, SKYTRAX are highly regarded in their industry 

As I write this blog, we are hours away from entering the U.K. 's second national caronavirous lockdown 

 

We all know this is due to be "lifted or eased" from 2nd December. We will wait and see about that, as so many factors will be taken into consideration 

 

I continue to feel sorry for so many people and industries, as this is nobody's fault. In particular, I feel the airline and travel sector is been hit very hard and this could possibly have been avoided, or at least minimised 

 

Remember, you can still travel for business purposes but not for holidays. Of course, this could change at any time, so always check the latest information on the government website 

 

Wishing you all the best 

Kind regards 

PPT