Return of UK air travel is slowed by demand for Covid test

Air travel from Britain to France resumed after a two-day halt, though eligibility restrictions and a new Covid-19 testing requirement limited the number of people able to board. A BA flight to Paris departed at 9:24 a.m. from London Heathrow on Wednesday, followed by one to Nice, according to the airport’s website. Both were delayed, and an earlier Air France departure was canceled, reflecting the challenges facing airlines and travelers alike. With two days to go before Christmas, trips to most other European countries remained blocked. Determined travelers may be able to navigate a maze of country rules -- Germany, for example, bars direct air travel, though its citizens can get home with a stop in France. More than 40 nations worldwide halted travel with the UK in the run-up to the busy holiday, after a new strain of highly contagious coronavirus began to spread in and around London. Entry into France remains limited mainly to nationals of the European Union, British residents of the EU or those with an essential need to travel, according to the website of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A spokesman for the UK Department for Transport said that mostly means French people returning home for Christmas. Lufthansa won’t be carrying passengers on its half dozen or so daily services from Britain to Germany for another week, with the planes transporting only cargo, a spokesman said. Those citizens desperate to get home can only do so by traveling via another country such as France, for which they’ll need the Covid test, and then making their way onwards, the German embassy in London said on its website.<br/>