Did the UK Government kill the travel industry?

A recent flight to Nice has highlighted that not many people are flying. In the middle of August, on a Friday night, shops and restaurants were closed at Heathrow. You didn’t have to worry about finding a seat to relax. There were plenty of them, even with the social distancing boards in place. While it was lovely to have so much personal space, on the other hand, you couldn’t help but wonder about the future of travel, particularly when airports in Europe don’t seem to be as burdened by such rules. And when none of this “Covid theatre” prevented the delta variant from entering the UK in the first place.

Perhaps people are voting with their feet due to the complex rules and scenarios. Leaving the UK for any trip seems to be determined to confuse the confound the most seasoned traveller. 

Despite the pages and pages of guidance on the government website, nothing is straightforward. Perhaps there are so many scenarios they attempt to cover that anything is possible. 

There are the green, amber, amber plus and red list countries. Then there are the various tests that you need to book before returning. Plus a negative test result (in English, French or Spanish). If you test positive or have information missing, you are stuck. 

The gist of it is that you still need a test proving you’re negative before returning to the UK. And you need to take a test on day 2. Depending on the country from which you’re coming. If you’ve had a recognised vaccination, you may be either able to avoid quarantine, have it for a reduced period if you pay for further tests or have to go into a hotel quarantine. Enough has been written already about the horrors of hotel quarantines and expensive and unreliable testing regimes (although if you need a test to fly, don’t rely on a test centre where you have to mail in your test).

It’s also rather sneaky for the government to insist that the airlines police these scenarios. No longer can you breeze through the departure gates. Someone from your airline has to check your negative test and declaration form physically. If not, you’re not going anywhere.

And I learned this the hard way on an internal flight that initially had a flight to London as part of the booking (albeit the next day). The computer said no, and so did everyone else. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Fortunately, there was a clean and reliable rail network as an alternative. 

Others are trying to use technology to streamline the fog of rules but with mixed results. British Airways have partnered with a company called Verifly, where you hand over your personal data to a US-headquartered company on the promise that it will make flying easier and verify your necessary documents. It didn’t work for me, and I had to have a human at Heathrow airport manually check my details and vaccination record before being allowed to fly.

So allow for an extra hour when flying—either departing or returning to the UK. You’re going to need it. And have everything on paper and online. And carry a pen. Be prepared for not being able to board. Check the options for train travel as plan B. No wonder Heathrow is empty.