Morocco has banned all flights to and from the UK as a result of rising coronavirus cases.
Several flights between the two countries have been cancelled on Wednesday, October 20 ahead of the travel suspension.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has released its latest figures that show that Morocco’s weekly rate of reported coronavirus cases on October 14 was just 10.4 per 100,000 people.
In comparison, the current UK rate stands at 445.5 per 100,000 people.
The UK Government updated its travel advice to Morocco, Its website reads: “The Moroccan Government has announced the suspension for an unspecified period of direct flights between Morocco and the UK (and Germany and The Netherlands) with effect from midnight 20 October.
“Travellers affected by flight cancellations should contact their airline or tour operator for advice on alternative routes via third countries (e.g. France, Spain) where flights are operating as normal.”
EasyJet has cancelled today’s flight from Gatwick to Marrakech.
The airline told passengers: “As we’ll be unable to fly to Morocco in order to operate any return flights after today, we’ve taken the decision to cancel your flight with us today.”
And it’s not the only airline to do so with British Airways cancelling a flight from Heathrow to the same destination.
Families in England and Wales who have booked half-term holidays in Morocco for next week will be affected by the ban.
Morocco’s National Office of Airports said the policy will remain in place “until further notice”.
They announced the suspension on Twitter which noted Germany and the Netherlands would also be included in the ban.
As of October 19, the Government confirmed a further 223 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 – bringing the UK’s death rate to 138,852.
Although deaths are typically higher on Tuesdays due to the lag in reporting deaths and cases over the weekend, this is the highest number for daily reported deaths since March 9.
