Coronavirus: Britons stranded abroad as Boris bars travel

Thousands of British holiday-makers are stranded abroad after Boris Johnson barred travel out of the UK.

Tourists at Las Vistas beach on Tenerife: many Britons are now stuck here. Picture: AFP.

Thousands of British holiday-makers are stranded abroad after Boris Johnson barred travel out of the UK for anything but business.

The British Prime Minister had not mentioned the ban in his announcement of a month-long lockdown on Sunday.

But after the decision to bar outward bound travel from midnight Wednesday – buried in the small print of the official government guidelines – was revealed, one of the country’s largest low cost airlines pulled the plug on return flights.

Even as Britons flocked to Heathrow to get a holiday in the sun while it was still legal, EasyJet said it would only honour flights until midnight Wednesday.

The airline’s decision has left tens of thousands of holiday-makers, many of whom had been encouraged by Downing Street to get some vitamin D in the Canary Islands, wondering how they will get home.

Travel operators say the issue in the Canaries is particularly galling and highlights the chaotic and confusing messages out of Downing Street.

The Johnson government only days ago lifted quarantine restrictions on the Canary Islands, adding the popular tourist destination to Germany, Sweden and Greece as countries to where Britons can travel without having to quarantine for a fortnight on return.

Listening to the Downing Street messaging to go and enjoy the sunshine, thousands of Britons took off to these volcanic islands off the west coast of Africa where temperatures hit 32C degrees on Sunday.

A British Always A321 flight on Sunday to one of the islands, Tenerife, was full – and left an hour late because it was such a last-minute addition to the flight schedule that the caterers hadn’t even had time to stock the water bottles and hand sanitiser.

The exodus to the sun, to wait out Lockdown 2’s onerous restrictions and misery, saw long queues at Heathrow Airport, with some package holiday operators promoting a countdown to escape the gloom while it is still legal.

Senior minister Michael Gove was left to try and justify the government’s manoeuvres while doing the rounds of Sunday morning television, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to say that having any fun, or sunshine, was now officially banned.

“Sadly, we’re saying that when it comes to international travel – of course if international travel is required for work or for other critical reasons, there are legitimate exemptions – but from Wednesday night, Thursday morning, our message is that people should stay home,” he said.

The announcement is another blow to the thousands of Australians stranded for months in the UK who have been unable to get home because of the strict flight caps imposed by the Australian government.

As airlines servicing Heathrow and other London airports wind back flights under the lockdown, the Australian backlog will grow further. .

At the moment there are no commercial economy or business seats on the London-Australian city routes until next year. First class options are rare and expensive: up to $37,000 for a ticket.