Q&A with Alex Macheras – Aviation Analyst
Britain has added Qatar to its travel red list and has banned all flights from Qatar from Friday early morning.
“Ethiopia, Oman, Somalia and Qatar to be added to England’s red list. England’s Department for Transport said.
“From 4am on 19 March, direct flights from Qatar to England are prohibited. Visitors who have been in or transited through Qatar in the previous 10 days cannot enter England,” British Embassy in Qatar tweeted.
Here’s some background: all arrivals to the UK from anywhere in the world must follow the following procedure: must test negative before departure to the UK, quarantine for ten days upon arrival to the UK, and take two compulsory tests during the quarantine.
However, the UK has something additional called the ‘red list’ which takes these measures much, much further. Countries already on the ‘red list’ include South Africa, Brazil, and most of the continent of Africa. Only British citizens or those with residency rights in the UK are permitted to travel from countries that are on the red list to the UK, and they must pay to quarantine in a mandatory hotel quarantine facility at a cost of £1750 per passenger. If you are not a British citizen, or a person with residency rights in the UK, you cannot travel to the UK from a red-list country, even indirectly.
It doesn’t end there. Most red list countries also have one-way flight bans applied on them, meaning direct passenger flights from those nations to the UK are banned entirely.
Here’s a Q&A on the latest developments with Qatar being added to the UK’s red list
Q: With Qatar being placed on the UK’s red list, what does this mean?
Direct passenger flights from Doha to the UK will end on by 4am on the 19th March 2021, until further notice. As per the announcement, all aircraft carrying passengers will not be permitted to depart Doha bound for the UK.
This will have a significant impact on transit passengers too, as for any passengers who are flying via Doha to the UK (such as from Sydney to Doha to London) will now have their final part of the journey (Doha to London) cancelled, due to the UK’s flight ban on Qatar. Passengers will be able to obtain refunds, or rebook.
British citizens/residents can enter Britain if they are able to reach the country indirectly (such as Doha-Paris-London, because the direct Qatar-UK flights are banned) but must still quarantine in a mandatory hotel quarantine facility (at a cost of £1750 per passenger) if they have been in Qatar over the last ten days.
*Q: Can a Qatari visit the UK after 18th March? *
No, direct flights will end, and only British citizens/those with residency rights who manage to fly via other airports to reach UK (such as Doha-Paris-London) will be permitted to enter, and then quarantine at a cost of £1750 per person
*Q: Can anyone with UK residence rights (such as students on a ‘BRP’ visa) travel from Qatar to the UK after Thursday? *
On direct flights — no. The UK government has said it will ban all direct passenger flights from Qatar to UK from Friday at 4am ‘until further notice’
Students with the residence visas (such as BRP) issued by the UK would have to fly from Qatar via elsewhere to the UK.
For example, a student could choose to fly from Qatar to a European City and then onwards to the UK, but they would be subject to COVID19 rules of the transit point country, plus they would still have to pay £1750 for a ten- day mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival to the UK.
*Q: Can a foreign national travel to the UK from, or via Doha after the 18th March?
Example: An Indian passport holder with residency in Doha*
All direct passenger flights will end from Doha to London.
Only British citizens/residents who fly via other airports to reach UK (such as Doha-Paris-London) will be permitted to enter UK with mandatory hotel quarantine at a cost of £1750 per person. Anyone who is not a British citizen or resident will not be able to enter UK if they have been in Qatar over the last ten days.
*Q: Can I still transit through Doha to fly to UK? (Example: Singapore-Doha-London)
No, all direct passenger flights will end from Doha to the UK, and therefore the final Doha-London leg of the journey will be cancelled.
*Q: What if I am fully vaccinated (both doses), am I still banned from travelling from a red list country to the UK? *
Yes, unfortunately the UK does not make any exemptions for people who are fully vaccinated.
*Q: If I am already in UK, will I be able to return to Doha? *
We are not sure about this just yet, and there should be more clarity over the coming days over whether or not flights will continue to operate from the UK to Doha
What we know for sure is that flights from Doha to the UK will be banned after Thursday night. The official quote from the UK government is: “From 4am on 19 March, direct flights from Qatar to England are prohibited”
*Q: When will this flight and travel ban end? *
The UK government has confirmed the ban on entry and ban on flights from red list countries to the UK, is “until further notice”. Britain remains in a national lockdown, which is only scheduled to be fully lifted from late-June, at the earliest.
*Q Why has the UK taken such action against Qatar and Oman?
The UK government say it is to protect the country from ‘new variants’ of COVID19 — but the only variant recently discovered in Qatar was the British variant, known as B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the South-East of England and has since spread around the world.
*Q Will I be entitled to a refund now that my flight from Qatar to UK is not operating?
Yes, Qatar Airways will offer refunds or rebooking to all passengers affected by the UK’s decision. We expect Oman Air to follow with a similar policy.
*Q Will the UK be open for summer travel?
At the moment, we are not sure. In the UK, the government has suggested that all coronavirus restrictions will end in late-June — but they have not yet outlined what the border policy will be for international travel. The situation remains dynamic, and decisions are made with little notice. There was no indication prior to the UK’s announcement that they would be taking such action against Qatar, Oman, and the other countries to have made the so-called ‘red list’
*Q Will the UK eventually allow vaccinated travellers to enter without restriction?
We expect this will eventually be the case – but ministers in England have not made any promises of the future travel policy due to the lack of data regarding vaccines, transmission, efficacy and more. It continues to be a waiting game.
