Portugal bans all flights to and from UK

 In Aviation, News

In a move which may be seen by some as a tit-for-tat response to last week’ UK government restrictions, the Portuguese Government announced yesterday that all flights to and from the United Kingdom will be banned from this weekend.

The Portuguese Prime Minister announced last night (Thursday) that there will be a total ban on flights between Portugal and the United Kingdom from Saturday onwards with the exception of those of a humanitarian nature to repatriate Portuguese and British citizens.
According to Reuters the decision was made after an informal meeting of European Union leaders aimed at coordinating measures to combat Covid-19 among the 27 Member States.
The measure has been taken to tackle the rapid spread of the new variant (the English variant) of the coronavirus which is spreading across Portugal.
“This has been considered unnecessary”, said Mr. Costa but concern was nonetheless focused on the variant and countries that have ‘close relations with Britain’, namely Portugal.
Flights between the two countries had already been restricted because of the UK Government’s decision last week to ban entry of all passengers travelling from Portugal – except British and Irish nationals, and those legally residing in the UK.
That decision was taken to curb the spread of the so-called Brazilian variant against which the new vaccines may not be so effective.
The EU is prolonging all restrictions already in place for passengers from third countries says the Algarve Resident.