Coronavirus: Poland, Denmark, Slovakia and Ukraine close their borders

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• Craig says:

  14 Mar14 March 09:01

  Spain now too, flights turning back!

  • Jcp says:

    14 Mar14 March 09:11

    The Madrid airport departures website is showing multiple departures to America. Is this duff information or am I missing something obvious?

    • Craig says:

      14 Mar14 March 09:12

      Flights from the UK to Spain turned back mid-flight, this was Alicante, Malaga, Canaries etc.

      • Craig says:

        14 Mar14 March 09:16

        Only one airline at the moment as far as I can see?

      • Rob says:

        14 Mar14 March 10:30

        This is an ATC issue – not enough controllers turned up.

        • Craig says:

          14 Mar14 March 10:36

          From the Tui website:

          SPAIN
          Following local measures put in place by the Spanish Authorities, including closing some hotel facilities and the local bars, restaurants and beaches we have made the difficult decision to cancel holidays due to travel between 14 and 16 March.

          Although there is currently no advice from the UK Government against travelling to Spain it would not be the holiday experience we would want for our customers.

          We will proactively contact all customers due to travel to Alicante between 14 March and 16 March to offer alternative holiday options or offer a full-refund. Any customers due to travel between 17 March and 23 March will be contacted about their holiday on Monday 16 March.

        • Craig says:

          14 Mar14 March 10:38

          Similar information on the Jet2.com Twitter feed.

        • marcw says:

          14 Mar14 March 10:53

          BS

        • Shoestring says:

          14 Mar14 March 11:01

          Low budget airline Jet2 have cancelled all flights to mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
          Twitter: In response to local measures introduced throughout Spain to prevent the spread of Covid-19, including the closure of bars, restaurants, shops and activities including any watersport, we have taken the decision to cancel all flights to Mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
          We know these local measures will have a significant impact on our customers’ holidays, which is why we have taken this decision

    • Rob says:

      14 Mar14 March 10:31

      Flights are not banned. Lots of US citizens going home, lots of cargo.

• Will says:

  14 Mar14 March 09:12

  Do you have any info on Thailand?
  Can’t seem to find anything.

  • Philip Tata says:

    14 Mar14 March 10:30

    Yes, I can’t find any information either that Rob is alluding to regarding Thailand. Due to go there on Tuesday, but will be cancelling. Worth adding that Etihad have been unhelpful, to put it mildly, about all of this, as they are refunding UAE nationals but no one else, as the UAE minister of health has banned there nationals from going to Thailand. When I spoke to them last week again, they agreed there was a significant chance that we would not be allowed back through Abu Dhabi from Thailand, as after all the UAE have deemed it too dangerous for their own nationals, but Etihad still refused any cancellation. Apart from being discriminatory, this won’t do their goodwill or reputation much good once the dust has settled.

    • Shoestring says:

      14 Mar14 March 10:35

      Passengers who have travelled from or transited the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States of America in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Thailand: Thai authorities have screening measures in place. These measures may include self-monitoring for 14 days and reporting symptoms to Thai health authorities.
      https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/health#coronavirus

      • Shoestring says:

        14 Mar14 March 10:41

        I think you’re OK – today – but it wouldn’t take much for Thailand to add UK to the list below:

        35. Thailand: Anyone who has travelled to or transited through China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Italy, Iran and South Korea in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Thailand may be subject to quarantine.

        • pixielott says:

          15 Mar15 March 15:04

          @Rob, can you please post your source for your Thailand comment? thank you

        • Rob says:

          15 Mar15 March 16:35

          http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7742/114909-Travel-measures-to-control-Coronavirus-(COVID-19).html

• krysk says:

  14 Mar14 March 09:20

  Travelled to Poland on Thursday morning BA flight to meet a big wig. On arrival Went to buy coffee in empty coffee shop, by the time I finished coffee all contact between government ministers and civilians had been banned. Ended up jumping onto flight that evening (hardly anyone on it) and having a Skype call with said individual instead next day. Folks in Poland seems to be much more attuned to potential dangers of viral infection. By the time I had landed late in the evening heard that border close measures would be in place. Regarding food. Wouldn’t have a problem eating it for a good while since it includes more than just the few ingredients mentioned by earlier poster 😉

  • Polly says:

    15 Mar15 March 08:28

    Well, at least you got the TPS and avios, hopefully..

• Paul says:

  14 Mar14 March 09:20

  Any thoughts on travel insurance claims for countries now enforcing mandatory quarantine? I’ve internal flights in Argentina booked for a couple of weeks time (I’m no longer intending to travel; was routing there via Sao Paulo on the now cancelled VS flights). Assuming the flights don’t get cancelled, is there a claim on the basis that the country’s mandatory quarantine rules would mean I don’t believe I’d be able to take the flights, even if I did find a re-route to the region?

  Great coverage of the rapidly evolving situation, Rob/HfP.

  • Rob says:

    14 Mar14 March 10:30

    You’re not covered if the flights operate.

    • tony says:

      14 Mar14 March 15:09

      This is interesting, as my insurance has a payout if I’m quarantined whilst travelling. It’s not a huge amount, but interesting all the same that they would encourage you to travel into something which both parties know will result in a claim.

• Clive says:

  14 Mar14 March 10:56

  NZ announced 14 quarantine for all

• Clive says:

  14 Mar14 March 11:39

  Update on Vietnam

  https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1153457-vietnam-to-refuse-visitors-from-uk-schengen-countries-state-media/

• Thomas Howard says:

  14 Mar14 March 13:36

  Spain announcing lockdown after numerous jet2 flights heading for the country were turned back mid flight.

• Daniel says:

  14 Mar14 March 14:36

  OT Flights next Thursday booked yesterday on expedia, and the long haul leg got canncelled. Can’t get through to either expedia or Lufthansa to get a refund, and I still don’t have a 13-digit ticket number yet (so tickets aren’t confirmed?).

  Any idea how to deal with this? Should I send an email to say I want to cancel the entire trip to get a timestamp history to do this retrospectively? Thanks

  • marcw says:

    14 Mar14 March 16:01

    It´s outside my understanding why someone bothers booking flights in 1 week time. For today or tomorrow, I can understand. But next week , or indeed in the next couple of weeks??? It´s just torture to get through CS at the moment on any airline or travel agency.

    • Daniel says:

      14 Mar14 March 20:43

      I was considering moving to China for a couple of weeks where the situation is under much more control than the UK at the moment. It’s for a lot of reasons… sorry if it annoys you

      • Yan says:

        14 Mar14 March 23:41

        Things are under control in China because substantial social distancing measurements are still in place (e.g. Spain & France from now on). That’s after spending the first 14 days in a quarantine centre.

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