LONDON—The UK government has confirmed plans that insist on almost all air passengers arriving in the country self-quarantining for 14 days.
The scheme has been widely attacked by representatives of the airline and travel sectors as effectively shutting the UK off from air transport and putting the already-struggling UK airline and tourism industries under further threat.
UK home secretary Priti Patel told the UK parliament’s lower house that arriving travelers will have to fill out documents giving the address at which they will be self-quarantining for 14 days, together with a telephone contact number.
Health officials will make random calls to the number and anyone found not to be at the location will be liable to an initial fine of up to £1,000 ($1,260), with further breaches of the law potentially resulting in unlimited fines or a prison sentence.
“We will not allow a reckless minority to put our domestic recovery at risk,” Patel told members of parliament.
She described the measure as “proportionate and time-limited” and said it would come into force on June 8. The regulations apply to England; the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will set out their own rules for enforcing the quarantine.
Limited exemptions will be made for arriving travelers such as truck drivers.
The UK government has been widely criticized for not introducing such a measure in the early days of the pandemic, with critics saying that doing so now will be ineffective and serve only to block the renewal of air links. Other European nations have said that they will reciprocate with 14-day quarantines for any UK residents arriving in their countries.
The move comes as the latest figures show the UK has suffered 39,728 COVID-19 related deaths, by some measures the highest rate in the world.
Patel said the measures would be reviewed after three weeks.
One of the loudest and most persistent critics of the measure has been ULCC Ryanair, which ridiculed it as “completely ineffective and useless.”
“For the UK to be imposing a 14-day quarantine on inbound visitors when it already has one of the worst COVID infection and death rates in Europe, is closing the door long after the horse has bolted,” a Ryanair spokesman said.
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