UK airport staff warn they cannot enforce overseas travel curbs

The UK’s plan to tighten its borders against Covid-19 by ordering people to declare why they are leaving the country faces fresh uncertainty after airline staff warned they could not enforce the rules. Priti Patel, home secretary, announced the policy a week ago as part of a wider package of measures including hotel quarantine for those entering the country from “red list” countries with virulent strains of the virus. She pledged an increase in the police presence at airports and introduced a new requirement for people to declare their reason for travelling, which should be examined by airline staff at check-in. But staff at Heathrow said Friday that they had not been told to check why people were travelling when they check-in. Ticketing agents said they were not in a position to judge whether a trip was essential and the passenger should be allowed to travel, or if they should be denied boarding. Aviation executives have also privately expressed concern that airport and airline workers are being asked to effectively act as border agents. The GMB union, which represents staff in the aviation sector said it was “deeply concerned” for its members. “There is currently no oversight from government to make sure travel is only being done for essential reasons,” the union said. At the same time airport staff also warned that they were struggling to check the veracity of pre-flight Covid-19 test results, which are now mandatory.<br/>