After the suspension of flights due to the new COVID-19 mutation, Brussels Airlines will restart operations to the UK.
Belgian air carrier Brussels Airlines is resuming flights to and from the UK from December 23, 2020. However, there will be special conditions in place until December 31, 2020. The travel to Brussels will be allowed only to passengers who have a residence in Belgium or have Belgian nationality and to passengers transiting through Brussels with a final destination outside the European Union.
“Strictly necessary non-postponable journeys” will be allowed, according to the Ministerial Decree published by Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden. This includes professional journeys of health workers, diplomats or staff of international organizations, journalists as well as movements of transport personnel or journeys justifying family reunification.
“Passengers must provide a certificate with proof of one of these essential reasons for travelling,” Brussels Airlines spokesperson Maaike Andries told the Brussels Times.
Brussels Airlines currently operates a reduced schedule to and from the UK: one daily flight to London and a two-weekly Manchester service. 75% of travelers on Brussels Airlines London Heathrow route are transit passengers, travelling to or from Africa via Brussels, the airline’s spokesperson told AeroTime News.
On December 21, 2020, Belgium imposed an entry ban for travelers from the UK due to the spread of a new coronavirus mutation in the UK. The scientists counted that a new strain of the COVID-19, found in the UK, could be up to 70% more infectious than the already known variant of the virus.
Due to the rising number of new infections, Belgium will have a stricter traveling policy beginning December 25, 2020. Non-residents who want to enter Belgium will have to show a negative COVID-19 test certificate, issued a maximum of 48 hours prior to the flight.