Which countries have banned UK flights amid concerns over the new Covid-19 variant?

April Roach @aprilroach2820 December 2020

More than 40 countries have banned UK arrivals because of concerns about the spread of a new variant of coronavirus.

Many European countries have imposed bans on flights from the UK in a bid to prevent a mutant strain of Covid-19 from reaching their shores.

The UK has alerted the World Health Organisation (WHO) about the new variant of coronavirus

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the fast-moving new variant of the virus that is 70 per cent more transmissible than existing strains appears to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and southern England.

“There’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” Mr Johnson stressed, or that vaccines will be less effective against it.

Here we take a look at which nations have introduced travel curbs against UK flights

Which countries have announced travel bans?

The countries that banned UK flights are:

  • France (all passenger and cargo traffic travelling in the air and through the English Channel tunnel from Britain banned until midnight Tuesday)
  • Germany (Until 31 December)
  • Italy (Until 6 January)
  • Ireland
  • Belgium
  • India
  • Austria
  • Bulgaria
  • The Netherlands (Until the New Year)
  • Finland
  • Denmark (Until 23 December)
  • Spain (except for Spanish citizens and residents)
  • Portugal (except for Portugese citizens and residents)
  • Estonia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Mauritius
  • Kuwait
  • Turkey
  • Jordan
  • Croatia
  • Morocco
  • El Salvador
  • Romania
  • Iran
  • Israel
  • Colombia
  • Peru
  • Argentina
  • Chile
  • Russia
  • Poland
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Canada (for 72 hours from December 20)

The Czech Republic has imposed stricter quarantine measures for people arriving from Britain.

There is a ban on anyone entering Hong Kong who have visited the UK for more than two hours within the past 14 days, while Pakistan is not allowing visitors from the UK to enter until at least December 29.

The Dutch ban came into effect on Sunday morning and the government said it was reacting to tougher measures imposed in London and surrounding areas on Saturday by Mr Johnson.

Belgium’s prime minister Alexander de Croo issued a ban for at least 24 hours while the situation was assessed, and the German government said on Sunday it was planning to restrict travel to and from Britain.

Mr De Croo said he was issuing the order for 24 hours starting at midnight “out of precaution”.

“There are a great many questions about this new mutation and if it is not already on the mainland,” he said.

The German government said all UK flights, with the exception of cargo flights, would no longer be allowed to land in the country due to the “coronavirus mutation”.It added that the ban will be reviewed by December 31.

Europe takes it's first steps out of Coronavirus lockdown

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Ireland’s transport minister confirmed his country would be imposing a 48-hour ban on travel from Britain to Ireland.

Eamon Ryan said that ferries will continue to operate for freight.

Europe starts to ease itself out of Coronavirus lockdown

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He said: “We need haulage coming in to keep our shelves full but other passengers will be restricted."

Austria and the Czech Republic were also imposing new measures against UK flights with Prague announcing stricter quarantine rules with all people arriving in the country having spent at least 24 hours in UK territory required to self-isolate.

What discussions are taking place between governments?

An EU crisis meeting was called on Monday to discuss the coordination of the response to coronavirus among the 27 member states.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) regards other countries’ travel restrictions as a matter for their own governments.

It was previously understood to be in touch with international partners and monitoring the situation closely.

Boris Johnson said he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and both sides wanted to resolve "these problems as fast as possible".

The prime minister told a Downing Street press conference: "We had a very good call and we both understand each other's positions."

Are international train and ferry links running?

Eurostar said it was unable to run trains from London to Paris, Brussels, Lille or Amsterdam on Monday or Tuesday.

Trains to London from Paris will continue to operate, with the rail company saying it planned to resume services to and from the UK on Wednesday.

Eurotunnel said that its last shuttle service departing for France would leave at 9.34pm, with access to its UK site prohibited from 10pm.

Dover’s ferry terminal has also closed to “all accompanied traffic leaving the UK” after France moved to shut its border.

Which other countries have reported cases of the new Covid-19 variant?

The World Health Organisation’s emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, said Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands had reported instances of the same variant that is spreading in the UK.

London And South East Enter 'Tier 4' As New Coronavirus Strain Detected
Police officers walk among commuters at Waterloo train station 
Getty Images

She added that several other countries confirmed variants that “carry some of the genetic changes seen in the UK”.

Will the tier system stop the spread of the new variant?

“If you have a low amount of this variant, the rate of increase is held by the tiers, but if you have a very high rate of this variant, then it is not held sufficiently by the tiers and it is going up rapidly,” Professor Chris Whitty, told the press conference on Saturday adding that people should not travel and risk spreading the variant around the country.

He said there was a risk of the variant “going out to other areas of the country where it currently is not a problem”.

But he said measures such as social distancing and limiting contact were the ones to use.

Is it the first novel strain detected in the UK?

A number of variants have been detected using sequencing studies in the UK.

A specific variant (the D614G variant) has previously been detected in western Europe and North America, which is believed to spread more easily but not cause greater illness.

But it is thought this is the first strain that will be investigated in such detail by PHE.

What examples are there of other virus strains?

The Danish government culled millions of mink after it emerged that hundreds of Covid-19 cases in the country were associated with SARS-CoV-2 variants associated with farmed mink – including 12 cases with a unique variant, reported on November 5.

In October a study suggested that a coronavirus variant that originated in Spanish farmworkers spread rapidly throughout Europe and accounted for most UK cases.

The variant, called 20A.EU1, is known to have spread from farmworkers to local populations in Spain in June and July, with people then returning from holiday in Spain most likely playing a key role in spreading the strain across Europe.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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