A flight shambles: With hours to go, Scotland’s busiest airport reveals Covid quarantine plan is in chaos

Quarantine plans for passengers arriving in Scotland and due to start tomorrow are a shambles, according to sources at the country’s busiest airport.

Edinburgh Airport bosses have written to the Scottish Government to raise urgent concerns about the managed quarantine policy, which comes into force tomorrow.

Senior sources at the airport yesterday revealed the situation was “shambolic”, while a spokesman said: “We have spent the past few days trying to make the Scottish Government’s suggestions fit for purpose in an airport environment as no policy was presented to us and the initial discussions were lacking in basic detail and knowledge of our operations. This is exactly why we wanted to be engaged far earlier in the process rather than being in a race against time.”

All international arrivals to Scotland are expected to book a £1,750 10-day self-isolation stay through the UK Government’s online portal prior to departure. In England the rules will only apply to people travelling from 33 “red list” countries.

Edinburgh Airport, which emailed Nicola Sturgeon about their concerns on Friday, admitted last night there is no detail on how international travellers who arrive on a connecting domestic flight from England or the Republic of Ireland will be picked up.

The airport spokesman said there were a series of concerns about how the system would work when launched tomorrow, adding: “We are hours away from this policy going live and still the Scottish Government is changing its mind on a key issue around arrivals from Ireland and the need for quarantine, with connecting passengers from amber countries potentially able to avoid managed isolation altogether.

“This uncertainty does not inspire confidence for airports and we understand airlines have yet to be fully briefed, which makes it likely some passengers will be completely unaware of this new requirement.

“We have written to the first minister to once again offer our support but primarily raise our concerns about this whole approach which does not feel adequate.”

The airport said private security staff hired by the government have not yet been issued with airside passes so workers will instead have to escort potentially infectious travellers. A Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul is the first to touch down at Edinburgh tomorrow when passengers will be expected to be taken to a hotel to quarantine.

The UK Government’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Thursday that passengers arriving in England from “low risk” countries would be required to quarantine at home – even if their home was in Scotland – rather than face hotel quarantine. In the last two weeks 2,330 international travellers arrived at Scotland’s airports with Edinburgh Airport expecting eight international flights this week, including planes from Qatar, Turkey and France.

Last week Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said the Scottish and UK governments are working together on quarantine plans.

He said the Scottish Government was “engaging with the UK and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive to agree a joint approach to contracting the transport and accommodation services required for managed isolation. That will involve a common approach to the procurement of hotels and related services, initially in England and Scotland, based on a UK Government contract.”

However the Scottish Government last night told The Post the UK Government was “leading” on this.

Penalties for avoiding hotel quarantine range from a fine of up to £10,000 to a 10-year jail sentence.

But Lucy Moreton, professional officer at the Immigration Services Union, which represents border staff, said it is unclear how it will be enforced. She said: “Once we’re satisfied that they qualify for entry, the only provision we’ve got is the Coronavirus Act, which requires that you obey a reasonable instruction from a border officer. But what happens if they leg it? Are we supposed to chase?”

Police Scotland also ruled out checks on travellers at the border with England amid fears some may attempt to avoid hotel quarantine by flying into England.

I had to do the full 14 nights and the only people I saw were medical staff

Malini Barnes, 49, a consultant gynaecologist from Glasgow, had to fly to Malaysia in April to visit her father who had been ill.

After arriving there, she was required to quarantine in a hotel for 14 nights.

Malini, a mother of three, said on arrival in Kuala Lumpur: “We were escorted by police to the arrivals hall which was set up as a kind of medical station. You filled in your forms, got a swab test, then you went to a holding area, if you got a negative swab you were allowed to go to immigration and officially enter the country, if you got a positive swab you then got taken off to the isolation ward in one of the hospitals. You could not even arrive into the country officially until you had your negative swab.”

She then caught a connecting flight to her home town of Kota Kinabalu, where she went through similar arrivals checks before being escorted – this time by fire department staff – to a hotel.

“There was a police officer at the entrance to the hotel and before we even went in a guy in PPE came out and sprayed your luggage and sprayed you with disinfectant. You had to do a full 14 nights in the hotel. You had to stay in your room, they would literally come round with food, leave it outside your room and ring the doorbell.

“The only people I saw was when they sent medical teams round all the hotels, they came in full PPE and they did repeat Covid swabs on day seven, day nine and day 13. They’d go door to door, you’d open your door but stay in your room.

“It was a bit boring but I was really well prepared. I had a stack of books. I spoke to my family every day but I was desperate to get out towards the end. There’s only so much you can do in a small space.”