UK red list caused chaos at Pakistan airports. Now demands of charter flights

The travel ban was announced after the UK government repeatedly warned British Pakistanis against travelling abroad for leisure amid concerns over coronavirus variants.

Britain’s updated travel ban list, also known as the “red list”, came into effect on Friday, after which airports in Pakistan witnessed chaos as thousands of travellers raced home to the UK to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine. British residents who missed Friday’s 4am deadline will have to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 11 nights for £1,750.

Labour leaders wrote to UK PM Boris Johnson to explore charter flight options or to provide financial support for those stranded. (Twitter, Reuters)

The travel ban was announced after the UK government repeatedly warned residents against travelling abroad for leisure amid concerns over coronavirus variants. According to a UK media report, many individuals of British Pakistani nationality were found travelling to Pakistan for attending weddings.

BBC’s North West Tonight recently aired a video of an unnamed woman from Manchester, reportedly posted on her social media account, who was seen attending a wedding in Lahore. In the video, the woman said that everyone was stressed out by coronavirus disease (Covid-19) back home so she decided to travel to Pakistan.

“Corona[virus] has made everyone in the UK mad... But everyone is enjoying themselves here (Pakistan). So I thought I'll get away from all of that by coming here to enjoy myself too,” said the woman, according to the BBC translator.

According to the report, around 32,000 travellers flew from the UK to Pakistan in January alone. As Covid-19 cases continued to surge in Pakistan following an influx of British Pakistani nationals, the United Kingdom announced a travel ban. Pakistan’s inclusion in the red list led to a surge in travel demand and many airlines added extra nonstop services.

At least 30 extra flights have been operated in the week since the announcement of the updated red list, ferrying around 5,000 to 7,000 extra travellers than the normal numbers, as per an Independent report. Social media users shared videos from extremely crowded Islamabad airport as airlines and enterprising travel agents chartered many additional flights to meet the demand.

“How many cases & ‘new strains’ will we see as a result of this stampede,” wrote a user.

But with thousands of British Pakistanis still stranded in the country, Labour leaders requested Prime Minister Boris Johnson to provide assistance to them. Yasmin Qureshi, a British MP of Pakistani origin, wrote to Johnson demanding clarification on the decision-making process and asking why “these specific countries have been added to the red list”.

“We are asking for the Government to explore charter flight options or to provide financial support for those stranded,” the letter, signed by Qureshi and her parliamentary colleagues, read.