Heathrow Airport has denied to operate additional flights from india to evacuate citizens from each side, before the south asian country is added to the UK travel red list on Friday.
Heathrow airport says , carriers' requests were turned down due to current long ques at passport control of the Airport.
The airport does not want to increase the existing pressures at the border control, by allowing more passengers to fly in.
From 23rd april (friday) 0400 hrs onwards India is getting red listed due to the current Covid-19 situation in india.
From 04:00 BST on Friday 23 April, most people who have travelled from India in the last 10 days will be refused entry.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled a planned trip to India, which had been due to take place on 26 April.
After the Red listed time, only British and Irish passport holders, and people with UK residence rights, will be allowed in, with conditions that, they must quarantine themselves in hotels for 10 days.
Due to the red listing of many countries including india, airports are getting crowded due to evacuation efforts of respective citizens.
When the Westminster government last added countries to the red list, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, at the start of April, it gave a week's notice. This time it's just over three days and the pressure is obvious.
Current Red List Of United Kingdom
India has been reporting more than 200,000 cases daily since 15th April. Country's capital Delhi has announced a week long lockdown after a record spike in cases overwhelmed the healthcare system of the city.
Health officials say this new variant, first identified in India, has some worrying genetic changes that need exploring.
It's still too soon to say if it is more contagious, deadly and will evade vaccines - and whether it should join the Variant of Concern list that the South Africa, Kent and Brazil variants belong to.
The travel industry is still hoping that international travel from England will restart on 17th May, but the new red list announcement underlines that it will be a while until the world is open to us.
Four carriers had requested to operate an additional eight flights from India as travellers seek to fly before the enforced quarantine comes into effect. Currently, 30 flights a week are operating between the UK and India.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that it also received applications for charter flight permits from India to the UK - but these had been refused.
In England, Quarantine hotels can cost as good as £1,750 per passenger travelling alone, that includes transport, tests, food and accommodation.
Every additional adult, or child over 12, must pay £650, while children aged five to 12 pay £325 each .
