Airlines were hit with more than 600 fines for failing to check Covid-19 documents of passengers arriving in the UK. Reuters
Airlines were hit with more than 600 fines for failing to check Covid-19 documents of passengers arriving in the UK. Reuters
Airlines were hit with more than 600 fines for failing to check Covid-19 documents of passengers arriving in the UK. Reuters
Airlines were hit with more than 600 fines for failing to check Covid-19 documents of passengers arriving in the UK. Reuters

Airlines hit with more than 600 fines in UK for missing Covid-19 paperwork


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Airlines were hit with more than 600 fines for flying passengers to the UK without the correct paperwork.

Britain's Department for Transport said 630 infringements had been issued since February 11 – when the UK increased border measures to prevent imported coronavirus cases.

Airlines face fines of up to £2,000 ($2,777) for each passenger who is allowed on board without recent proof of a negative Covid-19 test or a completed passenger locator form.

Airlines can be fined a further £4,000 for failing to properly inform passengers of the UK’s border requirements, while they face a £2,000 fine for bringing red-list travellers to a non-designated port.

Passengers face a £500 fine if they do not have the right documents.

The transport department said the fines form part of the country’s "tough border measures to protect the UK as the vaccine rollout continues to make progress”.

It said Border Force officers were “currently checking every individual coming into the country, no matter where they have come from, and will continue to carry out thorough checks at the border to keep the public safe”.

The fines are issued by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The UK's new customs checks led to queues of up to six hours at the border because of a shortage of border staff.

This month, Heathrow Airport's chief solutions officer Chris Garton demanded that the government introduce quicker checks to help deal with the delays.

“We need to see a dramatic improvement in border performance if we are to increase passenger numbers travelling through Heathrow,” he told a parliamentary transport committee. "The situation is becoming untenable."

It's up to you to go green

Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.

“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”

When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.

He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.

“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.

One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.  

The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.

Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.

But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”

Brief scores:

Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first

Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)

Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15

Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)

Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea