Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 13 May (HL3586), why no data is kept on non-commercial flight movement to, and from, Farnborough Airport; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the absence of such data on their ability to enforce their plans to apply 14-day quarantine rules to those arriving on flights from overseas from the end of this month.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Official data on commercial flights is collected by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and received from UK airports in adherence to statistical regulation (EC) 437/2003 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air. As Farnborough mainly receives non-commercial flight traffic, it is exempt from reporting under this regulation.
The Department can consult monitoring of flight traffic conducted by Eurocontrol to identify the volume of flights at Farnborough. This monitoring shows that Farnborough received an average of 10 flights (arrivals and departures) per day throughout April 2020.
We are asking people travelling to the UK to supply their contact details and details of their accommodation, and to self-isolate in their accommodation for 14 days.
Farnborough Airport is manned by Border Force officers who are based onsite during the opening hours for the airport. It will be their role to ensure adherence to the proposed requirement for international arrivals to complete the proposed online locator app, outside of a small number of exemptions to this requirement.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many flights of private aircraft (1) landed, and (2) departed, from Farnborough Airport from the start of lockdown on 17 March to 14 April; and what measures they have in place to record the identity and contact details of the passengers and crew of such flights so that they can be traced if any develop COVID-19.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DfT does not hold official statistics on private aircraft flight movements for the time period stated in the question. The Civil Aviation Authority collects some very limited information on non-commercial flight movements at a selection of UK airports which contains the total number of flight movements (arrivals + departures) in monthly block totals however Farnborough is not included in this data.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that passengers (1) arriving in, and (2) departing from, the UK by private aircraft follow COVID-19-related social distancing procedures when boarding and being seated on aircraft.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Firstly, following on from the Government’s guidance on social distancing in relation to COVID-19, people should avoid travelling unless it is essential. We would therefore expect private aircraft journeys to be non-essential.
The Government’s guidance regarding social distancing remains the same for private operations as commercial operations. The advice for travellers arriving in the UK is the same as for the rest of the population: they are advised to reduce their social contacts by staying at home and following the same social distancing measures as the rest of the country. If they begin to show symptoms, they should self-isolate. In case a passenger becomes ill in transit, all airports have been required to identify specific isolation areas to be used until the local health response arrives.
However, as you would expect our approach is being kept under review as the pandemic develops. This may mean that measures and procedures change as we control the spread of, and understand more about, the virus. Any changes to our approach will be led by advice from SAGE and the Chief Medical Officer. Protecting the health of the UK public will always come first.
Asked by: Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to require airline passengers and crew to have their temperature tested on arrival and departure from the UK.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Airlines and airports have already implemented additional measures in response to COVID-19 in line with advice from PHE, SAGE and the Chief Medical Officer. Airports are displaying posters and digital signage relaying Government information about COVID-19. Passengers arriving into UK airports are being given a leaflet with information about the measures in place in the UK, and announcements are made on aircraft an hour before landing.
Our approach is being kept under review as the pandemic develops. This may mean that measures and procedures change as we control the spread of, and understand more about, the virus. Any changes to our approach will be led by advice from SAGE and the Chief Medical Officer. Protecting the health of the UK public will always come first.