Omicron variant: Battle for a seat on an airplane before flights stop

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Destination: London, Paris, Frankfurt… Anxious travelers wait in line at Johannesburg Airport, hoping to find a seat on one of the last flights to their homeland as one country after another closes its border to South Africa , due to the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus.

Yesterday, the announcement of the South African scientists that they have identified a new variant with many mutations caused panic. Within hours, the United States, Canada, France, Morocco, Turkey, the Philippines, and Britain suspended flights from South Africa. The effectiveness of the vaccines against the new variant is still being considered.

At the counters of the airlines gathered many who decided to interrupt their vacation or the safari they were doing. Toby Reed, a 24-year-old British businessman, was camping with his girlfriend on the famous Table Mountain in Cape Town when the news dropped like a bomb. “Around 5.30 in the morning, we woke up to admire the sunrise,” he told AFP. A few hours later, they were waiting to board a plane in Johannesburg. The couple managed to secure the last two seats on a flight to Frankfurt.

Others were less fortunate and continued to look for solutions, from paying exorbitant sums for a ticket, to taking a strange route to their destination. “They could have warned us earlier,” said indignant Christian Good, 50, who will return to England via Frankfurt with her husband, David.

Luckily for them, however, they will arrive on time, before the new quarantine rule in a hotel comes into force on Sunday, which they will have to pay out of pocket. Quarantine is mandatory in Britain for all travelers from countries included in the “red list”.

“It’s ridiculous, there will always be new variations. “South Africa has located it, but it is probably already everywhere in the world,” commented David, with passports in hand.

So far, Omicron cases have been reported in Belgium, Israel, Botswana and Hong Kong.

On the departure table, the red indicator “canceled” lit on flights to London.

For other destinations, security still prevails. At the Air France counter, many are waiting to find out if the night flight to Paris will depart. A few hours earlier, France had also suspended all flights from South Africa.

“We are tired of all this,” said Ruth Brown, a 25-year-old British woman living permanently in South Africa who wanted to return to England for the first time since 2019.

A little further on, a blonde woman is holding a small child in her arms. Elke Khan went to South Africa with her partner to adopt a child and take it with them to Austria. The child’s papers are valid only for a specific itinerary, which can no longer be observed. “We have to take another flight, I do not know what will happen now,” said the new mother, obviously worried.

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