Foreign Covid Rules “to Blame for Travel Chaos” at Airports

Coronavirus rules put in place by foreign countries are to blame for delays at major U.K. airports, the Chairman of Parliament’s Transport Select Committee has said. The Telegraph has the story.

Huw Merriman said that airport staff were being overwhelmed by the number of documents they had to process for passengers flying to destinations which still have pandemic-related restrictions in place.

Mr Merriman, the Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle, said: “At Heathrow, 80% of their destination marketplace still have Covid conditions, so staff on the ground have to check those as well. All of this adds to a very lumpy picture for aviation and sadly it’s the travelling public that are impacted.”

Thousands of holidaymakers have had their flights cancelled or delayed  in recent weeks, as airlines struggle to meet a wave of demand for travel after two years of disrupted travel. 

A chronic shortage of staff is compounding the problem, as airlines let go of workers during the pandemic and are struggling to tempt them back into the industry.

Hard to believe the Covid travel restrictions in many countries are still in place. What exactly are the countries trying to achieve? Have they still not noticed the vaccinated carry the virus in large numbers? Do they intend the restrictions to be permanent? If not, when do they plan to axe them? The U.S. still has a complete ban on unvaccinated foreign citizens visiting the country. Crazy.

Worth reading in full.