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Austria imposes new ban on direct flights from UK

The Local
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Austria imposes new ban on direct flights from UK
An Airbus A 320 airplane of British Airways prepares for take off at Vienna-Schwechat Airport, in Schwechat some 20km south east of Vienna. AFP PHOTO/ ALEXANDER KLEIN (Photo by ALEXANDER KLEIN / AFP)

Austria imposed a new ban on flights from the UK on Tuesday June 1st due to concerns over the increased spread of the so-called Indian variant of Covid-19 in the country.

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From June 1st aircraft from the United Kingdom will no longer be allowed to land in Austria, according to a regulation by Austria's Ministry of Health.
 
In addition, the UK has been added to the list of virus variant countries.
 
Only Austrian citizens and residents allowed to visit Austria

This means entry from the United Kingdom to Austria will only be possible for certain passengers and those travellers must have a negative PCR test before boarding.

Only Austrian citizens and residents will be allowed to enter the country, apart from certain groups. 

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The Austrian government announced on Saturday that entry from virus variant states would be permitted for humanitarian workers, persons who have been summoned by the courts and people traveling to an international organisation on business, provided they can provide evidence of a negative PCR test result.

Other "virus variant" states include Brazil, India and South Africa. The ordinance banning aircraft from these countries from landing was recently extended up to and including June 6th The flight ban for the UK is in place until June 20th 2021.

READ MORE: Explained: The new rules for entering Austria

Germany also recently banned travellers from the UK from entering the country and France has barred all non-essential travel from the UKL and imposed a 7 day mandatory quarantine.

READ MORE: Germany bans travel from UK over covid Indian variant.

Earlier ban over so-called British virus variant

Flights from the UK were also banned from landing in Austria between December and March because of the so-called British virus variant. However, on March 21st, flights between the two countries resumed. 

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Recently the B.1.617.2  variant of the coronavirus, which was first discovered in India, has spread widely in the UK. This virus variant is considered to be particularly contagious and is believed to be the reason the number of infections in India have exploded in recent months.

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