Wizz Air chief hits out at UK quarantine plan for air passengers

Britain’s determination to press ahead with a quarantine for airline passengers is pointless and unnecessarily “harsh”, given that the country remains one of the worst hit in Europe by coronavirus, according to József Váradi, CE of one of Europe’s fastest growing airlines, Wizz Air. “It is an extreme measure and I am not sure how much it serves a purpose as . . . other countries are better than the UK. There are other ways,” said Váradi, as he announced a sharp jump in annual profits, struck largely before the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. For example, many countries were demanding health certificates to prove the traveller had been virus free for 72 or more hours, he said. Britain’s approach was “very harsh”. UK home secretary Priti Patel confirmed in the House of Commons on Wednesday that quarantine measures would be in place from next Monday (June 8) and require arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days. Váradi said air bridges were “certainly better than nothing” but Britain’s decision to impose a quarantine ran directly counter to the behaviour of most European countries. “All other countries are now easing in continental Europe,” he said. “If you want to travel you can and it will get easier and easier going forward.”<br/>