[simeoncox]

“Many of those people will be quite happy where they are – UAE, parts of Asia etc and will therefore sit it out.”

The Australian High Commission in Delhi called for Australians currently in India to register with the AHC and by survey asked for an indication of need for repatriation flights from four major centres.

The response was thus:
“The survey results were very clear on this point, with only 126 of the over 3,100 respondents indicating they are willing to pay over $3,000 for the return flight.”

Even with the vast population, the risk factors, logistic issues and costs involved being repatriated were prohibitive: transport availability and cost to one of four possible flight departure cities; cost of the repatriation flight; in-flight passenger consolidation / proximity; arrival port quarantine duration / conditions; domestic infection rates; and local travel issues to ‘home’ address upon discharge from quarantine.

I chose to stay in BLR where I have greater control over my circumstances and ability to provide for my needs at less expense and greater physical and psychological comfort, with less risk of contracting anything from milling with the herd.

[canucklad]

Surely the cost (or at least partly) of these whatever you want to call them flights can be subsidised by the revenue generated by the refunds due to passengers who’ve had their flights cancelled?

On the “Impact” topic , Martyn Sinclair embedded a Sam Chui video.
Quite interesting and relevant to this topic, Qatar seems to have stepped up to the plate and are demonstrating how an airline that is almost wholly reliant on transit passengers can help the global community get home.

Sadly the repatriation efforts are yet another example of how our global leaders have failed to co-ordinate their actions ( I wonder how many flights leave to Accra empty? ) in this crisis. Maybe they could learn from an often maligned ME airline ?

[AMcWhirter]

Today @lufthansaNews has tweeted “We fly you home, even if you are far away like in Manila or New Zealand. Until today Lufthansa Group has flown more than 70,000 passengers who were stranded abroad, often on the other side of the world.”

[AMcWhirter]

Mins after my tweet comes news that the French government is chartering a B777-300ER from Virgin Australia to bring home nationals from Australia and NZ. @airplusnews

Routing on April 11 will be Brisbane-Auckland-Hong Kong-Paris

[DavidSmith2]

Specifically in terms of the Accra flight, my understanding is that the outward flight is not carrying passengers under normal circumstances, but it is well-laden with much needed cargo, including medical supplies. Ghana will not allow anyone into the country, even if they are Ghanaian citizens at the current time. The reason for this is understandable since all, or almost all, of the cases identified have been recent travellers. So to protect the country, they don’t want even their own citizens, to bring further infections.

The UK is of course still allowing citizens/permanent residents back which is a different policy but reflects a different situation. I don’t think, in this particular instance, it could be significantly better coordinated.

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=995771]The UK is of course still allowing citizens/permanent residents back which is a different policy but reflects a different situation.[/quote]

Why is an infected Ghanaian any different from an infected British person when entering their respective countries?

I am still amazed passengers arriving from New York, Rome and Madrid are allowed to enter UK with no medical checks – in fact, I am amazed there are any flights coming from those destinations at all…..

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ASK1945

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=995754]sadly the repatriation efforts are yet another example of how our global leaders have failed to co-ordinate their actions ( I wonder how many flights leave to Accra empty? ) in this crisis. Maybe they could learn from an often maligned ME airline ?[/quote]

To the contrary I think a lot of diplomatic work is going on behind the scenes to get appropriate permissions in place, and to sort out the practical logistics.

Emirates is operating 4x per week repatriation flights for UK nationals wanting to return home, the flights ex-London are carrying cargo and the handful of Emiratis that want to return to UAE. The British Ambassador Patrick Moody was instrumental in negotiating the agreement with UAE Government. I know it took a lot of work, as EK needed to set up a temporary operation at Terminal 2 where they don’t normally operate from. And even to get staff to work, bearing in mind UAE is on 24 hour lockdown and the metro is shut with travel permits needed even to go to the supermarket.

SAA is operating many flights to return nationals to Europe/USA. There are videos online of the crew in full PPE.

Singapore Airport agreed to allow passengers to remain on board during refuelling of the BA Sydney-London flights when normally security requires complete disembarkation.

Kenya Airways operated repatriation flights from USA to bring Kenyans home, sadly the pilot of the final flight paid the price as he caughty coronavirus and subsequently lost his life.

Not sure on your source of facts but maybe the issue with Accra flights is just that the number of Ghanaians wanting to get back to Ghana is relatively small, presumably as many prefer to stay in places like UK where healthcare is better?

To be honest in times like this it is easy to run people down, perhaps try and focus on some of the many positives instead?

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canucklad

[LuganoPirate]

[quote quote=995773]SAA is operating many flights to return nationals to Europe/USA.[/quote]

Interestingly I saw SAA fly CPT-FRA last night with the 340, captained by a good friend and neighbour of mine, a route they have not flown for several years now.

The Swiss government have confirmed the flight by Edelweiss for tomorrow, CPT-ZRH. No pax down apparently, only bringing Swiss back. I just wonder what it will cost each person??

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=995773]Kenya Airways operated repatriation flights from USA to bring Kenyans home, sadly the pilot of the final flight paid the price as he caughty coronavirus and subsequently lost his life.[/quote]

This only evidences the repatriation flights, in some cases, enables the virus to travel. It is getting to the stage where borders need to close and passenger flights should stop.

[canucklad]

[quote quote=995773]Kenya Airways operated repatriation flights from USA to bring Kenyans home, sadly the pilot of the final flight paid the price as he caughty coronavirus and subsequently lost his life.[/quote]

Hi Simon, firstly your comment above brings it all into a very real and sad perspective.

[quote quote=995773]The British Ambassador Patrick Moody was instrumental in negotiating the agreement with UAE Government. I know it took a lot of work, as EK needed to set up a temporary operation at Terminal 2 where they don’t normally operate from.[/quote]

My point was simply, if there had been a pro-active plan put in place prior to individual countries summarily closing borders or restricting certain travel patterns then we probably, would have had a more seamless global response instead of ambassadors and their staff having to negotiation individual (presumably bilateral) agreements between many jurisdictions that inevitably will have taken up much more valuable time and resource.

And yes I agree , focusing on the positives certain;y is a healthier approach to take.

[SimonS1]

[postquote quote=995776][/postquote]

But the point here is it’s easy to sit behind your keyboard and point fingers. It’s less easy to be on the front line when deaths are growing exponentially and panic sets in. This isn’t the civil service where everyone sits around in meetings debating what to do. It’s the real world where the PM goes from having stubborn symptoms to being in intensive care within 24 hours.

Imagine, in 3 consecutive days in March the FCO had 82 separate border changes and restrictions advised. And in the space of 24 hours Emirates had suspended all flights, then reinstated some, and then been shut down by the Government. That is the level of uncertainty in just one country.

No simulations will ever prepare people for these extremes. Best evidenced by this thread….you say people should be coordinating their repatriation efforts, Martyn says why are any flights still operating at all?

The time will come for the lessons learnt exercise, for now let’s just be appreciative that some people are willing to put their lives on the line, whether repatriating nationals, driving buses, working in the NHS or just delivering our groceries.

[DavidSmith2]

In terms of the difference in policies between Ghana and the UK, I would say there are a number of reasons why the two countries take different approaches.

Ghana has chosen to close all its borders to all travellers, whether they are Ghanaian or otherwise. This means that there are many Ghanaians stranded overseas. Very broadly, they fall into 3 categories – those who were on business/study/medium term contracts overseas, those who have dual citizenship (UK/Ghana being the most common) and those who were in neighbouring countries for business/family reasons. 98% (I think) of all cases in Ghana were imported by travellers.

The UK has decided that it wants to repatriate all those UK nationals who normally reside in the UK. The lack of health checks at airports is a separate issue – Accra airport was conducting heath checks (and follow up checks) on all travellers since early March. YOu can certainly make the case that we should leave UK citizens in Ghana, in Indonesia, in Peru or whatever, and refuse to let them back. But I think there would be a public outrage if British citizens were left ‘stranded’ in other countries in that way, possibly with access to less effective health services.

So this not about how individuals are treated, it is about national policies and the underlying priorities. Ghana’s primary concern is the potential spread of the virus in the country, which they would find hard to deal with. The UK’s concern is also about their citizens overseas and getting them back to allow them to get access to better treatment. You can certainly argue that the UK’s (or the Ghanaian) policy should be changed, but there are reasons why different countries are taking varying approaches.

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canucklad

[canucklad]

[quote quote=995792]You can certainly argue that the UK’s (or the Ghanaian) policy should be changed, but there are reasons why different countries are taking varying approaches.[/quote]

To be honest Ghana was just a country I plucked out to use as an example. I just as easily could have mentioned another. Agree that countries need to adapt to best suit their own unique situation.

Hi Simon, just to clarify I’m not looking to play the blame game, I’d find it incredibly hard to point a finger at anyone/group specifically except fin the obvious direction.
However sticking with the UK, but this applies to every country where we take our personal freedoms , almost for granted, I firmly believe that now is the time that we need to be as vigilant as ever and hold our legislators to account.

A recent example (potentially panic driven) was the SNP trying to pass legislation to remove the need for juries to sit in judgement on their peers due to social distancing and travel restrictions.
A scarily fundamental and profound change to my individual liberty would have sneaked past because of our collective blind faith in our leaders as we’re distracted by the more critical crisis .

The analogy I would use is a game of Chess. We’ve seen our governments individually react to COVID a move at a time , not thinking 6 moves ahead. And personally now it feels like we’re trying to get, at best stalemate and at worse , fools mate

Lessons need to be learnt, and a robust playbook put in place for the future.
Most importantly though, lets all stay as safe as we can , follow the rules so we can get back to close to normal as soon as collectively possible.

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Montysaurus

[barnacles]

To pick up on the point about ‘rescue’ flights being only half full, that is what you’d want, and indeed what many airlines are insisting on in terms of seat/pax separation, were you travelling, so as to minimise your chances of catching the virus and falling ill. I understand, sadly, that the number of BA cabin crew who have succumbed to the Covid-19 virus exceeds fifty, some of whom are effectively themselves stranded in overseas hospitals. All very difficult.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=995754]Sadly the repatriation efforts are yet another example of how our global leaders have failed to co-ordinate their actions ( I wonder how many flights leave to Accra empty? ) in this crisis. Maybe they could learn from an often maligned ME airline ?[/quote]

[quote quote=995832]to be honest Ghana was just a country I plucked out to use as an example…..
just to clarify I’m not looking to play the blame game, I’d find it incredibly hard to point a finger at anyone/group [/quote]

Sorry to say I’m finding your comments quite inconsistent…..still it is an internet forum I guess. (Nb Not sure where ‘Barnacles’ comes from, just how the software works).

[Author]

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