Birmingham Airport prepares for new quarantine system
West Midlands' main airport is preparing to set up a system for operating the Government’s new coronavirus quarantine rules for international arrivals.
Birmingham Airport will be working with local hotels to meet the requirement for travellers returning to the UK from “red list” countries to self-isolate in a Government-approved hotel for 10 days which will be implemented from February 15.
The airport was expecting to receive initial details from the Department of Health and Social Care either yesterday or early next week of what it will be expected to put in place.
Birmingham has no direct flights on the “red routes” which include the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and South America. All of those services have been suspended.
The number of flights in total for January was 96 per cent down on last year with services to Belfast, Bucharest, Dublin and Paris currently being served.
The airport management will support whatever the Government asks to be done, but is not yet sure whether the “quarantine” hotels will only be those on the airport site.
The mechanics of how passengers required to quarantine will be brought through the airport and transported to the hotels have also to be established. The Airport Operators Association and the Department for Transport have also been involved in putting together the new rules.
Thousands of hotel rooms near airports are being booked by the Government as part of them.
Justine Howl, head of communications for Birmingham Airport said, “We are awaiting to receive the full guidance from the Government on its arrangements for managed quarantine for people arriving from high risk countries, or ‘red routes’, and expect full guidance to be issued soon so that we can plan for the launch date of February 15. We can then provide the support to our partners, including hotels, airlines and passengers, to make the process for customers through the airport as smooth as possible.
“With our current passenger volumes being around 96 per cent down on the same time last year, and with the tighter restrictions imposed on international travel, we don’t expect there to be a significant number of arriving passengers being placed in quarantine hotels at this moment in time. However, as traffic picks up, we will ensure that we have the operational processes in place to support this policy.”
The Department of Health and Social Care says it is working “at pace to secure the facilities we need” for the tough new border rules aimed at slowing the spread of new strains.
Travellers staying at quarantine hotels will be asked to pay about £80 per night.
Security
The scheme is expected to run until at least the end of March, with officials seeking to reserve 28,000 hotel rooms for use over that period.
An estimated 1,425 passengers will need to be accommodated each day, mostly near Heathrow. Travellers will be given three meals a day via room service.
They will be required to take a coronavirus test on the second and eighth days of their stay, with a negative result needed in order for them to leave.
The Government will pay about £55 million up front and try to recoup the money from passengers. It has been reported that Government-approved security guards will be deployed inside and outside hotels.
A spokesman for Accor, which has hotels across the UK, including several near Heathrow Airport, said: “We have had confirmation that managed quarantine facilities will come into effect from February 15 and we have received the commercial specifications for our hotels.”
Thistle Hotels also confirmed it has asked to be involved.
Some hotels have asked to be excluded due to fears among catering and security staff about getting infected, and the impact on insurance policies.
