Morocco bans flights from UK, Germany and The Netherlands due to Covid-19 concerns

Morocco has banned flights from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands due to concerns over Covid-19 infection rates. The ban will come into force from midnight tonight, 20 October.

The UK Foreign Office advised travellers affected by flight cancellations to “contact their airline or tour operator for advice on alternative routes via third countries (eg France, Spain) where flights are operating as normal.”

Royal Air Maroc and Air Arabia Morocco cancelled all flights to and from the three countries. An easyJet flight from London Gatwick to Marrakesh scheduled to leave this afternoon was cancelled at the last minute. British Airways has cancelled a flight from Heathrow to the same destination, and holiday operator TUI confirmed it had also been contacted by the Moroccan government.

TUI said: “We are contacting customers in departure date order to discuss their options, which include amending to another destination or a full refund. We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this time.”

Asked by Aviation24.be about the situation in Belgium, Piet Demeyere, spokesman for TUI, said that “Belgium is not affected by the Moroccan ban and flights continue to operate normally for the moment“.

The UK has reported 461 infections per 100,000 people, Germany 280 infections per 100,000 and the Netherlands 148 per 100,000, compared with 7 per 100,000 in Morocco.