Cyprus Mail 3 November 2020 - by Jonathan Shkurko
As England prepares to enter its second lockdown of the year, some Cypriot students in the UK are scrambling to get back home before it comes into place on Thursday.
Unlike the restrictions in spring, schools, colleges and universities can stay open, but the new rules will see almost all international travel banned for a month, leaving Cypriot students in the UK wondering whether they could be stuck there for Christmas if the lockdown is extended beyond a month.
“People cannot travel internationally or within the UK, unless for work, education or other legally permitted exemptions,” the British government said.
Sky News added that, although airlines are operating normal flight schedules and most flights have not yet been officially cancelled, it is expected they will be heavily reduced in November.
With most schools and universities courses being carried out online, the uncertainty over flights is prompting students to fly back to the island now.
The head of the Association of Parents and Guardians of Cypriot Students Nicos Petrou said on Monday that he has already received several calls and messages asking for advice.
“Many Cypriot students in UK who don’t have practical courses for which their physical presence is required have already booked their flights to come back to Cyprus before Thursday,” he told Cyprus Mail.
“As of now, only a handful of flights to Cyprus in the next two weeks have been cancelled so, for the moment, almost all Cypriot students who are planning to fly home after the lockdown enters in force are expected to manage.”
He said it all depended on whether there will be new directives from the UK government regarding outbound flights.
“Airlines might be forced to cancel more flights, but we don’t know that yet.”
Petrou also said that spending Christmas at home for UK-based Cypriot students is still very likely, as the month-long lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson aims to break the chain of infections before being gradually eased in time for the holiday period.
“The government imposed the lockdown to safeguard Christmas, which is very important for the country’s economy and to allow foreigners in the UK, including Cypriot students, to fly home from mid-December onwards,” Petrou said.
However, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on Sunday refused to rule out the new coronavirus lockdown lasting longer than its intended four weeks.
“Our hope and expectation is that the four-week period of lockdown would be sufficient, but, at the moment, we cannot guarantee that it will not be extended, should the situation require it,” he told The Guardian.
In a climate of uncertainty and anxiety, some students decided to fly back to the island before Thursday in order to avoid being stuck abroad during the holidays like many did back in Easter.
“I bought my ticket as soon as Johnson announced the lockdown,” Antonis, a Cypriot architecture student at Loughborough University, told the Cyprus Mail.
“All my lectures are currently held online, so technically I can attend classes from everywhere. I didn’t mind staying in the UK even with heavy restrictions, but I didn’t feel like going through another lockdown like I did back in spring, so I decided to fly back to Cyprus, where I am planning to stay until after Christmas.”
Other students, however, said the best thing is to remain in the UK for the duration of the lockdown and avoid unnecessary travel in order to limit the spread of the virus.
“I think a lot of problems occurred when people restarted travelling,” according to Despoina, who is studying law at King’s College in London.
“Since this lockdown is ‘only’ for a month, maybe we should all avoid crowding airports so we give ourselves a chance to go back to our homes for Christmas, when things might look better as far as the virus is concerned.”
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