Holiday Airlines Drop Spain After U.K.’s New COVID-19 Rules

A Jet2 737-300 (Photo: Pedro Aragão [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Jet2 has followed the recent surge in coronavirus cases by removing the Iberian Peninsula from its route map for the time being. This comes after the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced that only essential travelers should take the journey to Spain as the country fights yet another spike in virus cases. Furthermore, travelers from Spain to the island nation will need to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

The airline announced the suspension of service by saying that the situation was “extremely fast moving” and that updates would be given as the situation as the Iberian country’s path continued to change. The airline will reevaluate flights to Spain after a three-week hiatus, with mid-August being the earliest return.

Of the service suspensions, cities losing flights include Costa de Almeria, Alicante, Malaga and Murcia in Spain and Faro, Portugal. The airline has also suspended and canceled hotel and holiday packages sold through their Jet2Holidays campaign. The airline had hoped to make these an exception to the British rule but caved and followed its home nation’s requests.

CUSTOMER UPDATE – 27.07.2020 pic.twitter.com/TZ3MsuoyF8^[1]

— Jet2tweets (@jet2tweets) July 27, 2020^[2]

In a press release, the airline stressed the fluid nature of the situation, saying, “for customers who are due to travel to mainland Spain from Aug. 17 onwards, we will provide additional updates once we receive further information from the government. We urge the government to provide clarity, so that we can keep our all-important customers up to date and informed.”

The airline also said that flights to non-mainland destinations such as the Canary Islands would continue on as planned, but then backtracked hours later and dropped those routes as well. Those who are inconvenienced by suspensions will be contacted by the airline to discuss credit notes and full cash refunds for the unused trip. Furthermore, those who find themselves in Spain after the press release went out will be contacted to plan out the individual’s return leg with the airline.