La a brutal decision by the United Kingdom to reintroduce compulsory quarantine in a matter of hours for travellers with several European Union countries is further dampening hopes of a normalisation of traffic.
The decision was justified by the upsurge in cases of coronavirus in certain parts of these countries. As a result, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) has withdrawn their "quarantine-exempt" status. This status is accompanied by a Foreign Office warning against non-essential travel.
Following in the footsteps of Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg and Portugal, the UK announced on Friday that thea France, Monaco and the Netherlands left the list of "safe" countries. Since Saturday morning, travellers have been subject to a compulsory two-week quarantine.
These nations now join Spain, Portugal, Belgium and many others, which are effectively off-limits to many British travellers. Switzerland remains exempt for the time being.
The first consequence of these new rules was a rush of travellers to the UK before the measure came into effect at 4am on Saturday. Trains, ferries and planes were taken by storm.
According to the British daily The IndependentPrices quadrupled in the space of a few hours. From an average of €111 on a Paris-London flight at 8pm, the average ticket price had risen to €450 by 11pm on British Airways. On the Nice-London route, the one-way fare was €850!
No refunds, just exchanges
The travellers who had to cancel their flights on airlines serving the France/UK routes usually receive a voucher (not a refund). Air France, British Airways and Easyjet offer a voucher equivalent to the price paid, the validity of which varies from one airline to another. In general, this voucher is valid until 2021. Ryanair, on the other hand, will change any flight booked between July and the end of September free of charge. The date change is valid until 31 December. The only difference to be paid is any fare difference.
On Eurostar, exchange conditions are guaranteed. The railway company is offering passengers the chance to postpone their journey free of charge, having waived the minimum 14-day advance notice requirement until 7 September. The measure is in force until 31 December inclusive. After 7 September, any journeys postponed less than 14 days before departure will be subject to change fees. These are high, and can amount to almost the price of a ticket. It costs €40 per adult per journey in Standard and €50 in Standard Premier.
Further reduction in supply
Another consequence of this quarantine is a further reduction in transport services between France and Great Britain.. There is little change for the railways, however. Eurostar continues to operate six daily frequencies between Paris and London as well as three daily frequencies to Brussels and Lille.
The situation is more uncertain in the airline sector. Air France three to four daily flights to London Heathrow from CDG. On the other hand, British Airways will only be connecting Roissy to London Heathrow on Saturdays and Mondays from September. It will add an extra flight every Tuesday in October.
British Airways will be offering two to three flights a week to Lyon in September and October. The carrier will offer four weekly flights to Nice until 28 September. It plans to return to a daily frequency on that date.
Easyjet is drastically reducing its flights from Paris to London-Stansted, Luton and Southend. In September and October, it will offer only two or three weekly frequencies. However, the airline will retain two or three daily flights to London-Gatwick. Easyjet will continue to connect London with most of the major French cities as well as Brussels, Geneva and Luxembourg. However, the orange airline has just announced that it will permanently close its London-Stansted, Newcastle and Southend bases at the end of the month.
As for RyanairThe airline is reducing its capacity by 20% across its entire network. The airline's seat capacity now represents only 50% of those in 2019.
