UK quarantine rules require 10-day isolation in a hotel
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
British Airways on Sunday cancelled its flight from Lagos to London for operational reasons, and did not operate flight from London to Lagos.
Sources at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos said cancellation was linked to the travel ban imposed on countries where there are reported cases of Omicron.
Apart from the disruption in journey plans, the new strain of coronavirus also imposes additional financial costs on travellers.
British citizens or residents going to the UK from Nigeria and other red flag countries are required to quarantine for 10 days on arrival at a government-approved hotel at a cost of £2,285 per adult.
Many passengers who turned up for check-in at the MMIA were disappointed with counters for British Airways scanty. They were told the flight was rescheduled for Monday morning.
Some passengers, who sought clarification for the sudden twist of events were handed fliers signed by BA Customer Service Duty Manager Nwanorue Alexander, per reporting by The Nation.
“We would like to inform you of a change to the departure time of your flight BA 074 on December 5, 2021 to London Heathrow.
“We have had to make this adjustment to our schedule due to operational reasons. Your flight will now depart Lagos next day,” the flier said.
“We are sorry for the change to your travel plans, please be rest assured that we will do everything we can to help. If you need additional help please speak to a member of our team at Lagos Airport.”
Scores of passengers expressed displeasure over the development, saying the suddenness would force them to review their travel plans.
But other carriers such as Turkish Airlines, African World Airlines, Air France, Qatar Airways, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, flew passengers out of the airport to other countries.
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Travellers bear additional cost of quarantine
British citizens and residents travelling from Nigeria and other red list countries to the UK are expected to spend £2,285 in hotel quarantine for 10 days, following the discovery of Omicron cases in the UK linked to Nigeria.
“The government has decided to add Nigeria to the travel red list and that will be effective from 4am on Monday.
“This will mean that only UK residents or citizens of the UK can enter the UK from Nigeria from that point onwards, and they would have to quarantine in one of the relevant hotels,” UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Saturday.
Other African countries on the red list are Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
UK health regulations require British citizens or residents travelling in from countries on the red list to quarantine for 10 days at a cost of £2,285 per adult.
There is an “additional rate for 1 adult (or child over 11)” at £1,430, while an “additional rate for a child aged 5 to 11” is £325.
Quarantine costs do not apply to children under five.
However, the UK says it will consider an arrangement for persons who have financial challenges.
“The price includes: transport to and from your quarantine hotel; accommodation, food and drink for the whole of your stay; any COVID-19 tests you need to take while you quarantine.
“If you believe you will suffer severe financial hardship if you have to pay the full cost of your managed quarantine or testing fees before you travel, then hardship arrangements may be available to you.”
Petition against hotel quarantine gathers steam
TheCable reports that a petition by a British citizen, Dalia Elbeih, to the Parliament seeking to allow fully vaccinated people coming from red list countries to isolate at home has gathered more than 78,000 signatures.
“The hotel quarantine is very expensive and non affordable. I believe that there should be an exemption for fully vaccinated people and who had a negative PCR to isolate at their place of residence,” the petition reads.
The petition, which Westminster had responded to on July 6, has a deadline of December 10 and will be considered for debate in the Parliament if it gathers 100,000 signatures.