Display board showing canceled flights to London at an airport in Johannesburg, South Africa,
ByFakirHassen:
Hundreds of expats traveling for family or business in South Africa have been trying to return home on the last empty flights as several countries impose restrictions on visitors due to the discovery of a new variant of Omicron. of COVID-19 in the country.
The UK on Thursday announced that all flights to and from South Africa and five neighboring countries will be banned from noon on Friday after it was announced that a new Omicron variant of COVID-19 had been detected. in South Africa.
Many other countries have followed, most of them indicating that only their own citizens will be allowed to return, during the quarantine period.
In New Delhi, the central government requires all states and union territories to conduct rigorous screening and screening of all international travelers arriving or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana, where one New variants have been discovered.
Following a government decision on Friday, airlines will be allowed to operate 50% of their pre-COVID scheduled passenger flights between India and South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana from 15 December.
India does not have a bubble agreement – allowing special passenger flights between the two countries amid COVID-related restrictions – with South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana. In addition, these three countries are classified as “at risk” by the Indian Ministry of Health.
Tourists from the UK, one of the biggest in South Africa’s tourism and family visits, have been particularly hard hit.
“I need to get back home to spend Christmas with my family, and now it looks like I might be stuck here with my friends,” said Joanne Johnson tearfully as the airline employee explained about it. cancellation of the flight, adding that arrangements had been made to repatriate only British nationals.
South African pensioners Johan Vermeulen and his wife Annemarie have been looking forward to all year to be with their son Andre, who settled in the UK in 1999, and his family.
“We haven’t seen our grandchildren in over two years and think the pandemic has cooled down enough,” said Annemarie.
Jarred Sampson said even if he was able to get on a flight he would face the irrecoverable cost of a 10-day quarantine upon arrival in the UK.
“I asked and even though I have a vaccination passport, I am still obligated to quarantine. This will cost me almost £2,000 and take me away from family in Bristol for a longer period of time,” said Sampson.
A native of India at the airport, Abdul Patel, said he had tickets to return to Mumbai via Dubai on Monday, but was trying to change to an earlier flight.
“I don’t know if India will be affected, but my family from Surat will meet me in Mumbai,” Patel said.
One airline employee, who asked not to be named, said they expected more pressure over the weekend as even more countries have canceled flights.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
