The British government recently added Pakistan to its coronavirus ‘red list’ of banned countries. This saw a sudden scramble of demand from passengers in Pakistan to return to the UK before the measure came into effect. Several airlines operated repatriation flights to assist with this matter, among which were the likes of HiFly and Wamos Air.
What is the red list?
The red list refers to a selection of countries from which travel to the UK is currently banned. It aims to prevent mutated variants of coronavirus from entering the country. As such, it consists of countries that are considered high-risk for this form of the virus. For example, Portugal was previously on the list due to its close ties to South America.
The British government had likely feared that passengers from banned South American countries where mutated strains were present might instead look to travel to the UK via Portugal. This is a frequent connection point for such journeys, due to the strong historical links between Portugal and South America.
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Pakistan recently added to the list
British and Irish nationals are allowed to make such journeys, but must then undergo a 10-day hotel quarantine period. The passengers themselves must finance this £1,750 stay. As such, when Pakistan was added to the list, many passengers looked to rush back to the UK before the measure came into effect. The British government confirmed that:
“From 4am on April 9th, visitors who have been in or transited through Pakistan in the previous 10 days cannot enter the UK. British and Irish nationals, and third country nationals with residence rights in the UK arriving in England from Pakistan will be required to quarantine in a hotel.”
The news came at a bad time for Virgin Atlantic, which had big plans for Pakistan. It operated its first A350 service from Manchester to Islamabad in March, and had increased its capacity on this route (and the corresponding service from London Heathrow) due to high demand.
Wamos and HiFly join the repatriation efforts
As quoted above, Pakistan was set to be officially added to the red list at 04:00 BST on April 9th. As such, this prompted a huge surge in demand for travel from there back to the UK the day before. For example, Simple Flying reported at the time that an Icelandair Boeing 767 was operating a repatriation flight to London Heathrow on behalf of PIA.
Six of 13 total special flights bringing UK citizens from Pakistan to UK ahead of Pakistan being put on the UK’s ‘Red list’. Those arriving ahead of the Friday deadline avoid mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival.https://t.co/5tgr7CbnRJ pic.twitter.com/kCLeSnKdqD
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) April 8, 2021
However, since then, it has emerged that a further flurry of similar services also made their way back to the UK before the 4am deadline. Indeed, data from RadarBox.com shows that Spanish charter carrier Wamos Air operated three flights from Islamabad to the UK before the cutoff time. Two of these went to Manchester, with the third serving London Stansted.
All in all, 13 extra services operated to ensure that travelers from Pakistan arrived back in the UK before the 4am deadline on April 9th. Portuguese charter specialists HiFly also got in on the act with an A340-operated service from Islamabad to Manchester. Perhaps the most obscure aircraft involved was Jordan Aviation’s ex-KLM Airbus A330, which bears the registration JY-JVB. This touched down in Manchester at 23:42 on April 8th, according to RadarBox.com.
Were you onboard one of these repatriation flights? If so, which airline operated the service in question? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
