Flying with Covid

[davidjohnson6]

I have the dreaded C word lurgy, but really need to get home to the UK from Europe (I'm running out of cash for a hotel and can last only 3 more days). I have all the paperwork the UK Govt might ask for - UK passport, NHS triple vaccine proof, etc... but nevertheless I am sick and an antigen test went positive within 30 seconds
I get that wearing a mask or two would be a very good idea, I should keep away from people and I should ask for a seat on the plane far from other pax

However... are airlines accepting pax for travel if the passenger clearly looks unwell ? Are handling agents asking for antigen / lateral flow tests to be done at the gate ?

I am aware roughly one person in 70 in the UK currently has Covid, many without symptoms and unaware of their infectious status. I would definitely not be the only person who is Covid infectious to be flying to the UK.

[alserire]

With all due respect to your circumstances getting on a plane knowing you have Covid would be an extraordinarily insensitive and selfish act. I cannot imagine you would be challenged in any way but I would imagine that if you made it known that you had Covid they could almost certainly refuse to fly you on health and safety grounds. I would certainly never patronise an airline again that knowingly flew a Covid positive passenger

[davidjohnson6]

Originally Posted by alserire

With all due respect to your circumstances getting on a plane knowing you have Covid would be an extraordinarily insensitive and selfish act. I cannot imagine you would be challenged in any way but I would imagine that if you made it known that you had Covid they could almost certainly refuse to fly you on health and safety grounds. I would certainly never patronise an airline again that knowingly flew a Covid positive passenger

Sunclass Airlines and Norse Atlantic have both told me they will definitely accept me as a passenger in a few days time, having been made very much aware of my being Covid positive. I've sent an "are you sure about this ?" email to one of them and got a written reply saying "yes, we are sure we will fly you while Covid positive, as long as the Govt of the arrival country has no restrictions"
The other airline told me by phone "we recommend that you do NOT do a Covid test in the next few days, so you can fly home and we (the airline) won't be certain you are still Covid positive"

[Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP]

Why even ask? Nobody in the UK seems to care about it anymore and life is back to normal. There must be thousands flying every day into the UK with Covid. Hundreds of thousands on trains, buses and the London Underground. Quite why air travel should be treated differently is a mystery to me. Maybe I'm selfish, but I would just get on with it.

[SpringHeeledJack]

A tough one, on the one hand you are away from home and running out of funds and need to return (perhaps for other reasons as well) and you're aware that there are issues travelling whilst ill. The airlines and the UK Govt are happy for you to travel and enter the UK. As soon as the word COVID is mentioned the mood changes and with the happenings since 2020 no surprise. The sub-variants of Omicron are now more or less akin to the common cold, even yesterday I heard of an 80yr old male who is covid +ve and feeling fine except for the usual annoyances of the cold virus. As the OP said, there most certainly are many people unknowingly cold/flu/covid +ve travelling at the moment, as it always was in the past (pre-2020). Yes it is inconsiderate to others, but at a certain point life has to carry on, as it has since time immemorial. Wear a well fitting FFP2/3 mask, be mindful to keep distance from others as much as possible and modify your normal behaviour to minimise risk to others.

The masses who have descended on the London area this last week seem to share one thing in common aside from their wish to mourn QE2, namely no masks, except in rare cases and we can be certain that some of those people will knowingly or not be afflicted with some form of communicable illness whatever it's type.

[SWBKCB]

I am aware roughly one person in 70 in the UK currently has Covid, many without symptoms and unaware of their infectious status.

The difference is you know what your status is. Depends on what standards you set for your self.

I should ask for a seat on the plane far from other pax

Might raise an eyebrow or two?

[ZFT]

I live in an environment where masks are still worn and where my temperature is taken multiple tomes daily, whether it be shopping or banking etc..
I avoided Covid successfully until I returned to the UK some 6 weeks ago for a brief visit.
I flew on an airline that still requires masks at all times yet as soon as I deplaned at LHR not a mask was to be seen.
Jam packed trains, London Underground and internal BA flights over the next week and voila, Covid positive.
i doubt you will make any difference as no one seems to worry about a virus that as others have rightly stated is now no longer viewed by the vast majority as nothing worse than a cold.

[Peter47]

I got a sore throat on holiday in Switzerland earlier this year and assumed that it was either hay fever or a cold but thouight that I test myself when I got home and found myself positive (to my surprise - I've had worse colds). I did wear a mask & sanitise my hands whenever possible. Now that the UK Government no longer issues free covid testing kits I suspect that a lot of people are travelling with covid. Indeed I know several other people who have tested positive on return, with worse symptoms than me, although fortunately nowhere near life threatening.

The problem is that delaying travel for ten days would have cost me a fortune - and given that I don't carry with a smart phone very difficult. I'm actually pleased that I didn't get tested. My thoughts - don't travel if you don't feel well enough to travel, but many with covid will feel ok to travel. Wear a mask & sanitise your hands - is it really a big issue? Remember that vaccines don't stop you catching covid but make it far less severe. People are travelling because they know that they won't be stuck abroad. If that changes its back to skeleon services and layoffs.

That said I believe that it should be a requirement to be vaccinated (unless there are good medical reasons not to be). We've needed vaccines for other diseases in the past and its not stopped us travelling.

One last thought. How much would travel insurance that at the ring of a phone would book you hotels rooms for as long as you test postive, deliver testing kits (and a laptop to keep you amused) to your room & book you on the next flight cost? I suspect quite a lot but that could be what is required if we cannot fly with covid.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by davidjohnson6

However... are airlines accepting pax for travel if the passenger clearly looks unwell ? Are handling agents asking for antigen / lateral flow tests to be done at the gate ?

Many, if not most, airlines have Conditions of Carriage that allow them to deny boarding to a passenger who is obviously unwell. I have no idea how often they exercise that right.