Would you go abroad by plane over the summer?

[Sundiamond]

Assuming that the government will do yet another U-turn over travel quarantine on return to the UK, would you get a flight to say, Portugal for a holiday over the summer? I'm just curious how many would etc.

[Kazzyhoward]

And to all the people saying that restarting air travel is putting finance ahead of health, do you think the same about opening cafes, restaurants, pubs, museums, cinemas etc?

Well I'd prefer to see schools, hospitals and GP surgeries open first before the leisure sector as I think health and education is more important than a holiday or a day in a theme park.

[IcedPurple]

there lies the problem with the vaccine, and probably why 18 years were wasted trying to find one for SARS

They did not 'waste' all that time trying to find a vaccine for SARS, because it was successfully contained in 2003. Why would you spend years - and millions of pounds - looking for a vaccine for a disease which didn't really exist anymore? And where would you find the people to test it on?

[eatyourcake]

Yes.

I love travel and this lockdown is the longest I haven't traveled in a decade. I'm going to visit family abroad for 3 weeks in Aug and desperately hope I won't have to quarantine over there. We already booked Iceland in December and really hope to go somewhere warm in Sep/Oct.

I will be wearing a tight fitting home made mask with filters on planes/airports!

[sansou]

It pained me to cancel our accommodation bookings for our summer holiday to Slovenia this year. We prioritise our holidays but not over our health or other people’s. As it stands, we lose £1200. If our flights don’t proceed and we are refunded, it’ll be mitigated to £400. I love overseas travel but it’s a luxury and I don’t want my family to undertake unnecessary air travel at the expense of increasing the rate of transmission. Btw, I don’t bleach/wipe the shopping but I have started wearing a home made face mask in the supermarket.

Staycations for the foreseeable. Yes, it’s a sacrifice but I’m not willing to throw all the social distancing that we’ve done for the past few months just because the world is prioritising the economy for July/August.
Individual responsibility is key. It’s one thing to have to travel for your job but another for leisure in these times which is my line in the sand.

July/August will be overcrowded airport queues and packed planes - even in the midst of a pandemic if this MN thread is representative. What’s the point of everyone socially distancing if loads are ready to pack themselves like sardines in a tin can?

[sansou]

I’ve waivered for the past few weeks because I really love travel/holidays and the reckless part of me thinks that we should risk it for this summer since there will definitely be a second wave come autumn/winter/flu season/lifting of lockdown restrictions and this would be the last holiday abroad for awhile. Then the sensible side wins out.....

[Meadowland]

@sansou. I totally agree.
Going without a holiday abroad is a small price to pay. The damage caused could be huge, setting us back to Square One.
We are going to use this time to explore lots of lovely places in the UK - - at a safe distance.

[HoldMyLobster]

Thinking about it, my DD is due to go back to university in mid-August which will involve a plane journey, and either her dad or I will go with her.

It's not a flight abroad but the distance is 1700 miles so we're not likely to drive it instead.

[Longdistance]

We fly about 3 times a year. We won’t be going anywhere by plane. Norfolk for us this year in August. Hoping the sunshine stays.

We’ll see where we’re at in the summer, might book Eurostar to France for October.

[user1728393]

We have flights booked in 3 weeks. If an air bridge is announced where we're going and our flights aren't cancelled we'll be going. If not, we'll book something to a country with an air bridge for august time.

[KaptenKrusty]

Just got a flight to Dublin for Thursday for 15£ am going home to spend a month with my family! working from home anyway then can isolate whenever I get back to the UK! Can't bloody wait - have already had 4 flights cancelled to go home since March!