Innsbruck
airport refused to allow 110 British tourists entry into Austria because they
had not followed updated Covid restrictions, it has emerged.
Police said many were probably caught out on Sunday by a new
rule requiring a negative PCR test within 48 hours.
Austrian opposition politicians blamed the health minister
for failing to update restrictions on the internet.
Most of the tourists were flown home immediately but 40 were
put up overnight in a hotel.
Of those 40, 12 were allowed to take new PCR tests and
continue with their holidays, the local authority in Innsbruck said.
British travelers arriving in Innsbruck for skiing holidays
in the western Tyrol region on Sunday were met by what some of them described
as chaos, as the airport implemented new rules that came into effect on
Christmas Day for arrivals from the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway
because of the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus many
business listings.
While 70 of those arriving in Innsbruck were able to fly home
on the day, the other 40 were not and were quarantined in an Innsbruck hotel
for the night. The 12 people eventually allowed in were reportedly all families
with children.
The restrictions, currently displayed on the Austrian UK
embassy website, require anyone over the age of 12 to have a third Covid
vaccination and a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of arrival. Under the
previous rules, a negative PCR test had to be taken within 72 hours of arrival.
While many reportedly had older PCR tests, some also had not
received booster doses.
One tourist, Victoria Win Stanley, said on social media that
the team checking Covid certificates for an EasyJet flight either did not have
up-to-date information or were not checking them properly. The BBC has
approached EasyJet for comment business listings.
Local opposition People's Party tourism spokesman Franz Hörl
said he had no problem with tighter restrictions on countries such as the UK
labeled "virus variant areas".
His issue was with a "botched" operation that he
called neither professional nor humane, to bring in tourists over the Christmas
period, take them to a hotel under police protection and then send them home at
their own expense, he told the APA news agency.
·
French ski season in disarray as UK tourists banned
·
Tighter Covid restrictions imposed across Europe
He said Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein was to blame
because the old restrictions were still showing on the relevant government
websites.
Austria's Tyrol is especially sensitive to further outbreaks
of Covid-19 in its famous ski resorts. The resort of Ischgl was linked to cases
in 45 countries at the start of the pandemic when skiers returned home with the
virus in February and March 2020 free business listings.
Earlier this month, France banned British holidaymakers from
its ski resorts, barring all non-essential travel from the UK.
In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will
be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you
state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will
need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your
question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please
include your name, age, and location with any submission.
Comments
Post a Comment