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All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 1:05 pm
by torontomapleleaf
Don't shoot the messenger;
According to Kibris the government has added the UK and many other countries to the no-fly list until April 1st.
Interestingly Turkish flights are not mentioned but playing Devil's advocate if you are coming from a UK airport via Turkey you won't be allowed in. South Cyprus also included.
TML.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 1:20 pm
by Ozankoy Best Butcher
You`ll be allowed in if you have residency but you`ll be subject to 14 days home quarantine. Same for citizens.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 3:11 pm
by Hedge-fund
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 3:47 pm
by sausage and pash
I was going south tomorrow for weekend. The crossing we use (Aya Nap) is closing at 6pm tonight and reopening on 22nd March. That was what my friend at border was told.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 3:57 pm
by war horse
That's not great, we are supposed to be flying into Paphos next week and transferring across to Bahcelli to our villa for a couple of months, looks like we wont be travelling, and wont be able to get a refund on our flights, but not a lot you can do!
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 4:08 pm
by Trigger
war horse wrote:That's not great, we are supposed to be flying into Paphos next week and transferring across to Bahcelli to our villa for a couple of months, looks like we wont be travelling, and wont be able to get a refund on our flights, but not a lot you can do!
No, there isn’t anything anybody can do. It’s just one of them things.
We are expats in the Middle East. Everybody at work is effected in some way. People with weddings, sick parents, family visits, holidays.... everyone has their own story. Absolute nightmare but there you go. Such is life.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 7:15 pm
by Panchocat
My husband has just collected a friend from Larnaca. He lives here but has been in the UK. No temperatures taken at Metahan and no mention of 14 days self quarantine.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 9:11 pm
by SussexBoy
Our visit from 25 March is now definitely OFF. However, as far as our flights are concerned, I have received the following general email from BA:
We fully understand that many of our customers want to change their travel plans given the evolving COVID-19 situation, so we have put a number of measures in place so that you can book with confidence with British Airways.
We are giving additional levels of flexibility to customers with bookings made between 3 and 31 March 2020. If you need to change the travel date on your booking, we are waiving all change fees (a fare difference may apply). This applies to any British Airways flight, in any cabin, whether booked directly with us or through a travel agent. If you need to cancel your flight, we will give you a voucher to the value of that flight which can be used across the British Airways network up to 12 months from the original date of departure. (Changes exclude franchise airlines Comair and Sun-Air)
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Thu 12 Mar 2020 9:23 pm
by Muzer
We booked in today to fligh from Edinburgh to ercan . 30 min before departure we were told we wouldn’t get in to Cyprus by TA as our flight would not arrive until after 12am. That’s when it comes into effect. Hay hoe just need to get a few drams to kill the pain .
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 2:32 am
by Trigger
Muzer wrote:We booked in today to fligh from Edinburgh to ercan . 30 min before departure we were told we wouldn’t get in to Cyprus by TA as our flight would not arrive until after 12am. That’s when it comes into effect. Hay hoe just need to get a few drams to kill the pain .
Ah, so close!
Looks like loads of us around the world are going to be stuck in our respective places. Time will tell where the best place to be stuck is I guess.
Crazy times. Who would have predicted this a year ago!
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 5:59 am
by thornaby
Who remembers the bbc tv series called the survivors from the mid 70's, also another one done that I dont recall in 2008 both about a deadly virus sweeping the world.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 8:21 am
by Kanonier
Received this from the FO this morning.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advic ... =immediate" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 8:49 am
by sophie
Kanonier - Thanks for that re Northern Cyprus. I love the bit that says "terrorist attacks cannot be ruled out" What a load of baloney!!! Happy Holidays everyone.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 8:52 am
by MnM
thornaby wrote:Who remembers the bbc tv series called the survivors from the mid 70's, also another one done that I dont recall in 2008 both about a deadly virus sweeping the world.
The Last Ship? (Edit), actually no, that was 2014.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 8:53 am
by frontalman
My sister was due to visit us, flying into Larnaca tomorrow (Saturday 14th). Luckily she was flying with BA so has been offered a voucher to fly later in the year, if that is possible. Thank God she wasn't in the air when they introduced this policy.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 8:58 am
by Keithcaley
frontalman wrote:My sister was due to visit us, flying into Larnaca tomorrow (Saturday 14th). Luckily she was flying with BA so has been offered a voucher to fly later in the year, if that is possible. Thank God she wasn't in the air when they introduced this policy.
Hi, do you know when she originally made the booking? TIA
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 10:00 am
by frontalman
Early February, I believe, Keith. Why?
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 10:08 am
by st7801
We were at Manchester Airport yesterday for a 16.30 flight to ercan via Istanbul . We cleared security etc but we were denied boarding at the gate. According to Turkish they only got the email at 3.00pm.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 10:33 am
by Trigger
st7801 wrote:We were at Manchester Airport yesterday for a 16.30 flight to ercan via Istanbul . We cleared security etc but we were denied boarding at the gate. According to Turkish they only got the email at 3.00pm.
Nightmare. At least you never got to Turkey I guess.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 10:47 am
by Keithcaley
frontalman wrote:Early February, I believe, Keith. Why?
Someone who booked in January to fly LCA>LHR March 20th, returning April 7th rang BA 30 mins ago, but they would not issue a voucher for later travel because they said that the arrangement only applied to bookings made from March 3rd!
It seems rather bizarre that if you were to book
'now', when you know that there is a problem, they will allow you to change/cancel, but if you booked well before the situation developed, they won't!
I appreciate that your sister may have made a more flexible booking, allowing for alterations etc, but it's still weird!
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 10:53 am
by Mowgli597
Just received this email forwarded on to us (sent 10:44 this morning):
“Been refused entry to the country and are currently stuck at Ercan waiting to be put on the next available flight back to Istanbul!
Will update you when we get back home.”
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 11:16 am
by thornaby
MnM, The Last Ship was an American series as you say from 2014, haven't seen it but will look for it. Both Survivors series were the BBC, hopefully will watch one today because I think gardening is out of the question!
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 11:56 am
by Brazen
Surely BA only have to fulfil their contract to deliver passengers to Larnaca? Why are they giving credit to those that are travelling on to the TRNC?
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 12:56 pm
by Keithcaley
Brazen wrote:Surely BA only have to fulfil their contract to deliver passengers to Larnaca? Why are they giving credit to those that are travelling on to the TRNC?
They said that ANYONE booking between the 3rd and 31st March can cancel - where they are going is irrelevant.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 1:14 pm
by jameslevel7
When I read the BA notification I took it that 'booking' referred to the dates of flights.Whilst that means the BA statement was badly couched/inaccurate it is the only interpretation that makes any sense as already pointed out by others.It is not beyond possibility that various members of BA staff have not interpreted the notice correctly.I have a file of emails from BA over the years which bear only passing similarity to English.
Or maybe the notice is just bizarre and perverse.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 1:18 pm
by Keithcaley
jameslevel7 wrote:When I read the BA notification I took it that 'booking' referred to the dates of flights.Whilst that means the BA statement was badly couched/inaccurate it is the only interpretation that makes any sense as already pointed out by others.It is not beyond possibility that various members of BA staff have not interpreted the notice correctly.I have a file of emails from BA over the years which bear only passing similarity to English.
Or maybe the notice is just bizarre and perverse.
I think that you're probably correct.
I feel an email coming on
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 3:24 pm
by SussexBoy
Tried to phone BA just now to clarify the situation but, as is always the case, you cannot get past the message that they are experiencing a high level of calls! I booked last August for a 25 March flight. Anyway, I have now applied for a voucher for a future flight but it seems I will not get any response for 48 hours so I will just have to sit back and wait. Sending an email is no good either as you are likely get a response as the last time I tried on another matter: "....... we’ll be in touch as soon as possible. We currently have high volumes of incoming mail, so would ask you not to chase a response." It took 2 months for BA to reply!
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 5:37 pm
by CatalkoyChris
Easyjet the same.
Got a message last night saying they will waive change fees.
There was no mention of when you booked though.
Im due to fly over 18th April, i have decided to wait until the beginning of April to decide what to do.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 6:09 pm
by Bahcelibelly
My wife arrived at Pila at 7pm last night , BEFORE the 12pm curfew and was refused entry , the new rules came into force when she was at 35,000 feet , she pleaded with the pilot to let her off but to no avail
She is still in Larnaca now after an overnite stay at hotel and flying back to Luton arriving at 2 am Saturday morning when I will drive the 90 miles to pick her up and then go straight to work !!!! Deep joy …..but at least we have our ……...oooops , best keep stum …
The midnight cut off point was a joke ……….the officials at Pyla were adamant ...NO ADMITTANCE !!!! Buyer beware or caveat emptor …….or something like that
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 6:31 pm
by Chriswright03
Just to clarify that does she have residency? Because if she as then this is contrary to what they are saying and makes a huge difference.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 7:45 pm
by 13roman58
Chriswright03 wrote:Just to clarify that does she have residency? Because if she as then this is contrary to what they are saying and makes a huge difference.
only citizens from then,
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Fri 13 Mar 2020 8:38 pm
by Hedge-fund
BA has just announced more flexibility on flights between 14th March and 31st May regardless of when they were booked.
You can apply for a voucher for the original amount paid which will be valid for one year.
Sounds fair - and very expensive for them!
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Mon 16 Mar 2020 6:33 pm
by Bert
Ba will give you a voucher if you booked before the 14th too
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Mon 16 Mar 2020 7:05 pm
by Jonnie
I had an email last night from the BRS saying even those with a residency permit will be blocked from entry.
"from 6pm tomorrow 16th March NO UK citizens will be allowed to enter the TRNC, by ANY point. This also includes UK Citizens who have a residence permit. This supercedes the announcement dated 11th March 2020."
I find this very harsh. Some will have their home, only home, here yet Cypriots who live in the UK, possibly with dual nationality will be welcomed and only be requested to self isolate. Buy a house here and be treated like an outcast because of your origin.
Re: All UK originating passengers banned from the north.
Posted: Mon 16 Mar 2020 7:20 pm
by war horse
Also as of tmw UK now included in being banned from entering Turkey, not surprising but not good news for many