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.

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.