Coronavirus: Italy

(asked on 9th March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, for what reason flights are being allowed to continue between airports in northern Italy and the UK.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 18th March 2020

Flights are currently allowed to continue between the United Kingdom and Italy as there are many UK citizens in that area who may want to come home. Also, crucially, the evidence shows that banning flights from affected areas does very little to protect us.

Currently British Airways and Ryanair have made the decision to cancel all flights to and from Italy; these decisions were made by the companies themselves. The UK Government has not currently taken steps to restrict flights between the UK and Italy, but this remains under constant review.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to Italy, due to the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 and in line with various controls and restrictions imposed by the Italian authorities on 9 March. The Foreign Office advice is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy

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