Where do you think will be the best place to travel to by plane after lockdown?

[PTR 444]

2020 was supposed to be the year that I would make my first ever journey by plane, travelling on a Flybe flight from Southampton to Manchester. Sadly the company went bust just one day after I bought my ticket, then Covid came along and hampered any chance of getting there regardless of operator. Now that this pandemic has been going on for months and crippling the economy in the process, it seems like any chance of me going on a plane before 31st December is slim to nonexistent, but why should I have to doubt myself when I can remain optimistic and hope that there is some chance of me flying before the end of the year.

Since i've never travelled by plane in my life and am just doing this as a bucket list ticking exercise, I don't really care where I fly to, even if it is just a single or day return journey. I know international travel will be off limits for a while and some domestic flights will become uneconomic, but I'd imagine flights to places like the Channel Islands and Isle of Man will remain due to strategic importance. I say best in the title as a combination of both being physically possible to fly to from the UK and cheap as possible, since I know tickets are going to be rather costly for some time while airlines recover from the pandemic.

 

[Bantamzen]

Flights into Europe will be back rather sooner than a lot of people want to believe.

 

[duncanp]

Southampton Airport currently has flights to Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey, and these are likely to be retained in the long term for strategic reasons.

There are also flights from Southampton to Glasgow and Edinburgh, both of which are well worth a visit. Glasgow and Edinburgh are only 45 minutes away from each other by train, so you could stay in one place and do a day trip to the other.

 

[carlberry]

2020 was supposed to be the year that I would make my first ever journey by plane, travelling on a Flybe flight from Southampton to Manchester. Sadly the company went bust just one day after I bought my ticket, then Covid came along and hampered any chance of getting there regardless of operator. Now that this pandemic has been going on for months and crippling the economy in the process, it seems like any chance of me going on a plane before 31st December is slim to nonexistent, but why should I have to doubt myself when I can remain optimistic and hope that there is some chance of me flying before the end of the year.

Since i've never travelled by plane in my life and am just doing this as a bucket list ticking exercise, I don't really care where I fly to, even if it is just a single or day return journey. I know international travel will be off limits for a while and some domestic flights will become uneconomic, but I'd imagine flights to places like the Channel Islands and Isle of Man will remain due to strategic importance. I say best in the title as a combination of both being physically possible to fly to from the UK and cheap as possible, since I know tickets are going to be rather costly for some time while airlines recover from the pandemic.

I suspect that tickets will be fairly cheap, airlines will just want money and they need to get people back to the idea of using planes again. If you've a passport just find anything cheap from Easy Jet or Ryan Air (it should be easy to find an Easy Jet login on the dark web now!!!). The experience of one Ryan Air flight is usually enough to put most people off flying again!

 

[PTR 444]

I suspect that tickets will be fairly cheap, airlines will just want money and they need to get people back to the idea of using planes again. If you've a passport just find anything cheap from Easy Jet or Ryan Air (it should be easy to find an Easy Jet login on the dark web now!!!). The experience of one Ryan Air flight is usually enough to put most people off flying again!

That's good to know. I have no intention of booking anything for the next couple of months though due to the uncertainty of the current situation. Just hoping that things will have cleared up a bit by the end of the summer and there will still be some cheapish last minute flights then

 

[Huntergreed]

I would imagine that, despite the current negativity from the public surrounding the proximity of the date, flights will resume in a month or two to Europe. Whether there is social distancing or not is another question, but I would hope to see the flights resumed certainly by mid july.

 

[Bald Rick]

Ryanair are restarting around 40% of flights from July. Easyjet haven’t confirmed, but will be very similar, as will BA.

I would avoid a flight to the Channel Islands, as they are usually expensive. Your best bet from Winterbourne will be Easyjet from Bristol; flights to Edinburgh / Glasgow are available for less than £50 return in August. If you’re brave you can book now, at worst you’ll lose £50, but more likely if the flight is cancelled or amended you will get a refund / voucher / alternative offered.

 

[LAX54]

I am booked to the USA on 29th August, B.A seem confident that it will all go as booked, Have to say the proposed 2 week self isolate on return, if it is still in force in September is a bit daft really, far, far too late.

 

[Chester1]

98-99% reliable antibody tests available home delivery for £69 will be a game changer for some sectors. I think a verified result might be demanded by some countries. Our quarantine won't last that long. Too many people can quarantine for 14 days on return, especially with an inevitable exemption for exercise. There will be a political backlash from people who can't work from home, especially when UK holiday costs go through the roof.

Greek government has announced international tourists will be allowed by land mid June and by air from 1st July with random testing of passengers on arrival.

 

[scotrail158713]

The experience of one Ryan Air flight is usually enough to put most people off flying again!

In my albeit limited experience (one return flight) they’re not that bad - certainly no frills but it got me from A to B fine. Granted my outbound flight was on time, and the return one only ~30 minutes late. It seems to be if things go wrong then they go horribly wrong - which I avoided.

 

[Bald Rick]

In my albeit limited experience (one return flight) they’re not that bad - certainly no frills but it got me from A to B fine. Granted my outbound flight was on time, and the return one only ~30 minutes late. It seems to be if things go wrong then they go horribly wrong - which I avoided.

I’m like a broken record here, but I’ve tried to fly Ry***ir for 3 return trips:

Trip one: screwed over at check in on return for ‘overweight’ baggage, despite having somewhat less than on the trip out, and the rules not being particularly clear (this was nearly 20 years ago).
Trip two: flights cancelled, alternatives offered nearly double the price, refund took several weeks.
Trip three: two horrendous passenger handling experiences, both involving being left for an extended period on the tarmac with no shelter, firstly off the plane in 35C blazing sun, secondly boarding in a thunderstorm then left on the plane for over an hour not able to depart (which they knew about before they boarded us).

Never, ever again.

 

[nlogax]

I'm looking at a break in Iceland for later in the summer. Their (June onwards) C19 policy for arriving visitors is pretty clear. At arrivals you either take a C19 test right there, or you go directly to quarantine for two weeks. And of course you go to quarantine if you test positive. There'll also be a requirement to use their contact tracing app. All of this sounds pretty reasonable. Now..just to find some Keflavik flights..

 

[Bald Rick]

I'm looking at a break in Iceland for later in the summer. Their (June onwards) C19 policy for arriving visitors is pretty clear. At arrivals you either take a C19 test right there, or you go directly to quarantine for two weeks. And of course you go to quarantine if you test positive. There'll also be a requirement to use their contact tracing app. All of this sounds pretty reasonable. Now..just to find some Keflavik flights..

Some very cheap fares with Easyjet from July...

 

[nlogax]

Some very cheap fares with Easyjet from July...

Ta.. but I have some BA points which desperately need using

 

[Butts]

Are people quite happy to set foot on an Aircraft with no social distancing in place , yet go berserk when someone pushes to close to them in Tesco ?

Should Aircraft really take off full ?

Personally it wouldn't bother me either way - a mask is a poor substitute to being 20cm away from someone rather than 2M

 

[Bantamzen]

Are people quite happy to set foot on an Aircraft with no social distancing in place , yet go berserk when someone pushes to close to them in Tesco ?

Should Aircraft really take off full ?

Personally it wouldn't bother me either way - a mask is a poor substitute to being 20cm away from someone rather than 2M

Personally it wouldn't bother me, in fact I'm looking forward to getting off aboard again as soon as possible. As for capacity, airlines often run on tight margins so they really need to be selling as much capacity as possible, which generally will mean every seat.