London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

Huge queues in Portugal as people fly home early to beat quarantine

Huge queues in Portugal as people fly home early to beat quarantine

Hundreds of British tourists were seen scrambling to fly home from Portugal on Sunday to avoid having to quarantine upon returning to England.

Dozens of families packed into Faro airport alone after being informed that the holiday destination would be added to the amber list from June 8.

From 4am on Tuesday, anyone arriving from Portugal must quarantine at home for 10 days and take a Covid PCR test on days two and eight.

One traveller, who had been visiting her father, told Portuguese channel TVI : ‘We’ve moved our flight to today so my husband and I can return to work as soon as we get home.

‘We’re very disappointed, very upset, we all are, we wanted to stay.’

Under the current ‘green list’ rules, returning travellers from Portugal do not need to self-isolate and must only take a Covid test on day two of their arrival.


Faro airport was rammed with British travellers on Sunday as they rushed back home to avoid tougher quarantine rules

Faro airport’s departure lounge was filled to the brim on Sunday, mostly with Brits rushing home to avoid extra travel restrictions, set to come into force next week

Brits queue for their flights at Faro airport after being told on Thursday that Portugal was being added to the amber list within days


Another woman said: ‘It’s unfortunate for the people who have just arrived, I think a bit more notice would have been helpful.’

One Brit added: ‘I’m not sure it’s entirely justified but we have to take their word for it I suppose.’

It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock cited the Nepal strain of coronavirus, also known as the Delta variant, as the main reason for moving Portugal onto the amber list.

He said: ‘It was not a decision I wanted to take, but we’re absolutely determined to keep this country safe, especially from novel variants coming from overseas.’

He added that ‘tough’ restrictions on travel were necessary to protect the success of Britain’s vaccine rollout.

But the last minute announcement on Thursday saw a mad dash for PCR tests in Portugal, with tens of thousands of Brits forced to queue for hours to get swabbed ahead of their flights this weekend.

Airlines have been forced to put on extra flights to cope with the exodus of Brits from Portugal

British tourists and residents line up to return to England at Faro airport as Portugal prepares to be added to the amber list on Tuesday

Brits queue outside an airport in Portugal as they wait to fly home to avoid having to self-isolate for 10 days

Check-in staff were kept on their toes in Faro this weekend as an onslaught of British travellers decided to fly home before stricter restrictions come into force on Tuesday


Airlines were forced to increase capacity by putting on extra flights from Faro, Porto and Lisbon to cope with the exodus.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, which represents British carriers, criticised the Government for failing to give enough warning to holidaymakers, such as placing Portugal on a ‘green watchlist’.

He said ministers failed to keep their promise of providing an adequate warning system to prevent ‘pandemonium’.

But the Government said dozens of cases of the Delta variant had been detected in Portugal and that it had to act fast to not put the vaccine rollout in jeopardy.

In an online statement the government said: ‘According to data published on GISAID, 68 cases of the Delta variant of concern have been identified in Portugal, including cases of the Delta variant with an additional, potentially detrimental, mutation.

‘Public Health England is investigating this variant and mutation, to better understand whether it could be more transmissible and less effectively tackled by vaccines, potentially putting our progress with the roadmap at risk.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
×