Uncertainty grows for holidaymakers as UK extends travel restrictions to ‘indefinitely’ while those stranded abroad wait for flights home

UNCERTAINTY grows for British holidaymakers as the UK extends travel restrictions previously until April 15 to ‘indefinitely,’ while the UK government presses on to make arrangements to collect those stranded abroad.

According to the UK’s foreign office, restrictions for non-essential travel, which were initially in place for 30 days until April 15, have today been extended for ‘an indefinite period.’ According to consumer group Which? this has “created a huge amount of confusion for the British,” and “Ministers need to provide some certainty for British holidaymakers.” However, for now, it looks as though holidays are off the menu, at least for the near future.

The government also announced it was chartering flights to collect thousands of Brits stranded around the world in countries across Latin America and Asia. In a statement to the press today, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said that the UK has already helped over 200,000 UK nationals come home from Spain, 13,000 from Egypt, 8,000 from Indonesia. “We’ve repatriated a further 1,550 from cruise ships, including most recently the Coral Princess and the Zaandam. We’ve also chartered flights from seven different countries, bringing home more than 2,000 British nationals,” stated Raab.

For those travellers still stuck abroad, he said “we’re doing everything we can to keep international airports open, to keep commercial flights running, and to charter flights, when there are no other options – under the new arrangements I announced last week, and which have now been agreed with 14 airlines.”

Around £75 million has been allocated to support those arrangements. “We’ve already had flights back from countries including Peru, Ghana, and Tunisia. And we’re fixing further flights from India, South Africa, Nepal and the Philippines, which will fly later on this week,” added Raab. “So, I want to reassure people that every arm of the government is doing everything it possibly can to defeat coronavirus and rise to the challenges it presents us at home and abroad.”