Islamabad: May 05, 2021 (TNS): UK travellers returning from “red list” countries are flying home via Turkey to avoid hefty hotel quarantine fees.<\/p>\n
Passengers are breaking their journey in Istanbul, and staying in hotels there for a fraction of the cost they would have to pay in Britain.<\/p>\n
Travellers from countries on the red list would otherwise face bills of up to \u00a31,750-per-person to isolate in a hotel if they flew to the UK directly.<\/p>\n
Those using the route must still quarantine at home once back in the UK.<\/p>\n
One hotel worker in Istanbul said he had seen British nationals flying in from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh – which are all on the UK’s red list.<\/p>\n
The BBC has also spoken to travellers returning from Pakistan to the UK, many of whom were attending weddings or funerals and say they couldn’t afford the cost of quarantining once the rules changed.<\/p>\n
As long as they isolate at home for 10 days after returning from a non-red list country, they are not breaking the UK government’s Covid rules.<\/p>\n
‘Red list’ countries
\nThe UK has a so-called red list with travel heavily restricted to countries on it – usually those with high coronavirus rates.<\/p>\n
Any British citizen arriving home who has been to a country on the list in the past 10 days must then pay to quarantine in a government-approved hotel.<\/p>\n
What is the red list and what countries are on it?
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\nThe cost is \u00a31,750 for a single adult, while a family of four with teenage children would pay \u00a33,700. Guests are largely restricted to their rooms for the duration.<\/p>\n
By comparison, anyone arriving in the UK from a country not on the list is told to self-isolate at home – so long as they’ve not been in a red list country in the past 10 days.<\/p>\n
One travel agent in Bradford said some of his clients who had travelled to Pakistan had been left facing a hefty bill to return home after the country was placed on UK’s banned list on 9 April.<\/p>\n
“I’ve got customers who can’t afford to come back,” said Ascher Khawaja of Oltrax Travel, citing UK quarantine costs. To ease the burden on his clients, Mr Khawaja says he has arranged 15-20 journeys home via Turkey.<\/p>\n
The country brought in a three-week lockdown last week because of rising infections – but it has not been added to the UK’s red list. “With the hotel factored in, it works out at around \u00a3600 compared to \u00a31,700-plus,” he said.<\/p>\n
Anyone entering Turkey must have had a negative Covid test within 72 hours. They also must have a negative PCR test to leave the country. Foreign tourists are, however, exempt from Turkey’s current lockdown rules.<\/p>\n
TV and a fridge
\nBradford businessman Mohammad Saad travelled to Pakistan on 23 March to attend his nephew’s funeral and had been due to fly home on 10 April – the day after Pakistan was added to the red list.<\/p>\n
When he couldn’t change his flights, he and his 16-year-old son flew to Turkey instead. The cost was about \u00a3450 for 10 days in Istanbul, he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s like an extra holiday. Then you can fly back into the UK from Istanbul without any hotel quarantine.”<\/p>\n
Hashir, a 21-year-old student returning from Pakistan, said he had met other Britons at the airport when he arrived in Istanbul.<\/p>\n
“There’s no way I have that money, I’m a university student,” said Hashir, referring to the cost of returning directly to the UK. He is due back in the UK on 7 May.<\/p>\n