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Owners of major retail businesses and airports urge Treasury to think againCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageUK retailers, hoteliers and airport chiefs have warned the chancellor that scrapping tax-free shopping for international tourists has put 70,000 jobs in jeopardy.Earlier this month the Treasury said that the retail scheme, which enables non-EU visitors to reclaim VAT paid on their purchases, would finish at...

UK billionaire praises Emirates for flight as thousands remain stranded by policy to ease pressure on hotel quarantine A tweet by Lord Sugar about his recent flight into Sydney has angered scores of Australians stranded around the world who themselves are unable to enter the country.Australia’s federal opposition seized on the tweet on Friday amid accusations a controversial policy to ease pressure on Australia’s...

Carriers prevented from operating due to coronavirus have turned to offering trays of takeaway to nostalgic flyersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAirlines are not known for their excellent cuisine. A tray of plastic-sealed plane food is, for some travellers, barely tolerable at 30,000 feet. Yet, as the coronavirus pandemic has halted flights around the world, a growing number of airlines are now...

Testing people after seven days could also ‘increase compliance from public’, says one researcherCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePeople arriving in Britain should be tested to cut quarantine time, scientists have urged, as speculation mounts that more holiday destinations will be axed from the air bridges list.A growing number of countries are being added to the UK’s quarantine lists, with many Britons...

Move, amid rise in cases in country, follows Labour call on regional ‘travel corridors’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDowning Street has restored Luxembourg to the list of countries requiring travellers to quarantine for 14 days when they arrive in the UK because of a surge in coronavirus cases in the country, six days after the same demand was re-imposed on arrivals from...

Quarantine measures for people travelling from Spain may be applied to other countriesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHolidaymakers have been warned the government could impose “handbrake restrictions” on more countries beyond Spain in order to stop the spread of coronavirus – with travellers unlikely to be given much warning if further quarantine measures need to be enforced.The restrictions on travellers returning from...

British travellers in Madrid have expressed their shock and anger at the government's sudden decision to impose a two-week quarantine on those returning from Spain'Everyone is panicking': UK quarantine decision shocks Britons in Spain Continue reading...

Britons currently on holiday there will have to self-isolate for 14 days on their returnSince Spain emerged from lockdown on 21 June, coronavirus cases in the country have surged. The health ministry logged nearly 1,000 new infections per day at the end of last week. The steep rise in new cases prompted the UK government to remove Spain from the travel corridor list on...

For most Australians, two events of biblical solemnity will define this year: fire and plague. How should we respond?This is part of a series of essays by Australian writers responding to the challenges of 2020As soon as my partner and I completed two weeks’ quarantine after returning from Europe in late March, I went around to visit my mother. We had talked on the...

Exclusive: Opponents claim exemptions to rules could mean great economic pain for little public health benefitCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTens of thousands of new arrivals to the UK will be able to go food shopping, change accommodation and use public transport from airports during a 14-day quarantine imposed to prevent a second wave of coronavirus, under draft plans to be laid...

From 8 June people arriving in the UK will have to tell the authorities where they will be staying and face spot checks to ensure they self-isolate for 14 days, the home secretary, Priti Patel, has confirmed. Anyone failing to comply could face a fine of £1,000UK coronavirus liveAll people arriving in UK from 8 June must quarantine for 14 days Continue reading...

Major shift in border policy will require people arriving in UK to self-isolate for 14 daysAll people arriving in UK from 8 June must quarantine for 14 daysCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe government has unveiled a major shift in border policy to be introduced next month in a bid to prevent a second wave of Covid-19 in the UK. Continue reading...

Plans being drawn up are expected to cover most passengers, with exemptionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEnforced quarantine measures at the UK border expected to be unveiled this week are to cover arrivals by sea, car and international rail, as well as air, the Guardian understands.The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, in his address to the nation on 10 May announcing the...

Social distancing rules will ‘kill cities’, experts warn – and the future of mass transit hangs in the balanceThis is the second feature in our Life after lockdown series, which looks at how Covid-19 could change Australia for good Before the pandemic struck, Sara Blazey made the same three-hour commute to work, three days a week, for the better part of 12 years. The...

As travel restrictions in response to the pandemic savagely cut the number of flights, airlines are scrambling to find places to park their redundant planes Continue reading...

An animated graphic released by an international aviation organisation shows the dramatic impact the lockdowns have had on air travel. Eurocontrol, which manages flight networks across Europe, said the continent's largest airports had 90% fewer flights compared with April 2019See all our coronavirus coverageLive global updates Continue reading...

Key questions around the government’s plan to rescue 300,000 stranded BritonsCoronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The government has announced a £75m rescue mission to repatriate an estimated 300,000 British stranded abroad because of the coronavirus outbreak. How will this work and who will be selected for a flight home? Continue reading...