Flights between TT, UK to be suspended

The British High Commission in Port of Spain has announced that from March 26 all flights from TT to the UK will be suspended. The decision comes in the face of the covid19 pandemic which has seen over 200,000 global infections and 8,000 global deaths.

It also follows Monday's announcement by the Prime Minister that TT will impose a temporary travel ban on non-nationals for a period of 14 days which took effect on Monday at midnight. As expected, this will disrupt travel between TT and the UK.

Travel restrictions are being imposed by countries to reduce the number of imported covid19 cases. On Monday, the US travel ban on EU countries including the UK and the Republic of Ireland took effect.

Outside of mainland China where covid19 cases were first recorded, Europe has been one of the hardest hit regions by the pandemic and was classified by WHO as the pandemic's epicentre. The region has over 35,000 infections and 3,400 deaths.

To date, TT has 9 confirmed covid19 cases with zero deaths while the UK has over 2,600 cases with over 100 deaths. While Britain's government has announced travel advisories warning citizens against non-essential travels, they are yet to announce travel restrictions

British High Commissioner to TT Tim Stew in a video posted to the commission's Facebook page on Wednesday announcing the halting of flights between TT and the UK, also advised British nationals wishing to return home to contact their airlines urgently. Stew called for patience and understanding in what might become a stressful situation as the commission tries to assist.