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The contrast between our two flights on a hop back to London was stark. (File photo)
Josh Martin is a London-based Kiwi journalist.
OPINION: There must have been a hole in the space-time continuum somewhere over California – pass through it and any worries a traveller may have about contracting Covid-19 disappear. The contrast between our two flights on a hop back to London was stark.
Flight one, NZ8 from Auckland to San Francisco, had militant mask-checkers – I wore two just to keep them onside (although one was used to replace a lost eye mask). My rare moments of shut-eye were always permeated with short, sharp bursts of “Sir, please wear your face mask,” and, “Ma’am, keep your face mask on when talking to me – that’s the point.”
They had far more patience than I.
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We stopped counting at seven separate Covid-centric announcements on sanitising and safety. They referenced the New Zealand Government regulations that required face masks on board and in the airport, but I’m sure one or two crew members might be better suited as nightclub bouncers or police officers.
Fast-forward 10 hours, via a quick pit stop at Fisherman’s Wharf and on board flight VS42 to London, we entered a post-Covid world. “You are no longer are required to wear masks throughout the flight or in the airport at London Heathrow” chirped an onboard announcement.
Looking around the pointy end, there was scant mask wearing, and it decreased as the champagne flowed – despite the Aussie in seat 2A with the hacking cough.
After three weeks in New Zealand, it was a reminder that Covid restrictions for travellers are coming down nearly as quickly as they went up. Temperature checks? Gone. The UK’s lengthy passenger locator form? In the bin. PPE-dressed health professionals looking for signs of the dreaded coronavirus? Elsewhere (I’m not sure they ever existed in London). Quarantine, heck, even tests upon arrival to your destination? Not to be seen in North America, the UK or the rest of Europe.
Yes, we were handed a couple of rapid antigen tests upon arrival in Auckland at Easter, but even then, their days looked numbered.
Since the start of the year, the list of countries where authorities are happy enough just to see your Covid vaccination record has been growing. So too has the small but growing number of countries who’ll let you in even if you’ve not had your Covid jabs, which now includes the UK.
As New Zealanders travelling long haul often do stopovers or transits, you’ll still need to keep up to date with rules for both your final destination and layover airport.
Dubai, like LAX or San Francisco, still checks if you’ve got a recent negative test, vaccination certificate or medical certificate of recovery.
We signed an “attestation” form declaring we were healthy before boarding our flight to the Golden State. Singapore, meanwhile, doesn’t care about any of that any more.
We were still cautious in the days leading up to our flights, but only because New Zealand and US authorities required RAT results. Had we been flying back through other hubs such as Singapore, we would not have required one going out.
There will no doubt be Kiwi travellers who, after not having been on a plane since before March 2020, will barely notice the difference if they go to the UK or other Covid-lax destinations now.
In signs of normality truly returning to aviation, as I write this from Manchester, airlines across the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands have cancelled many hundreds of flights this week, though not because of a Covid outbreak among staff or strike action after too-much document checking.
Nope – it was blamed on a shortage of border security staff, IT issues and fewer cabin crew members returning to their posts. Another Covid legacy, the labour…
Read More: A tale of two flights: What it’s like to fly to the UK right now