Travel News

Passengers at Heathrow faced long queues on Monday due to security staff being told to self-isolate, the airport said.

Images posted on social media show long lines of travellers inside Terminal 5.

Kathryn Wylie, 26, from Glasgow described her experience as “chaos”.

“Both security points in T5 were queued back the full way of the terminal,” she told the PA news agency.

We apologise to our passengers

Heathrow

“People easily waiting an hour to get through, flights delayed after boarding to wait for passengers to get on who were caught up at security.”

Ms Wylie said there were “easily over two thousand” people in Terminal 5 while she was there.

She added: “One lady came round with water thankfully.”

A spokeswoman for the airport said: “Earlier today we experienced some passenger congestion in Terminal 5 departures, due to colleagues being instructed to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace.

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“We have activated additional team members to assist passengers with their journeys and the operation has now returned to normal.

“We apologise to our passengers for any inconvenience caused.”

Many passengers arriving at Heathrow in recent months have suffered long delays due to extra coronavirus checks at the border.

Intending pilgrims have been warned against patronizing some fake Tour agencies in a bid to cut corners to go to Saudi Arabia for hajj, urging the general public to report to the Commission, any person collecting money and giving assurance of securing 2021 Hajj slot under the entry visa.

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) said some agencies are collecting money from intending pilgrims, assuring them of entry visa as well as hajj permit in Saudi Arabia, warning that such arrangement does not emanate from the commission nor from the Saudi authorities.

In a statement signed by the Head, Public Affairs division of the commission, Hajia Fatima Sanda Usara, it warned intending pilgrims not to fall victims to fraudsters in the name Hajj travels.

The statement reads: “It has come to the attention of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) that some travel agencies are collecting Hajj fares from intending pilgrims with the assurance of securing Hajj slots for them under the entry visa category. It is alleged that such agents attribute their claims to NAHCON’s permission.

“In a warning first issued on Friday, May 28th 2021 (28/05/2021), NAHCON had dissociated itself from any agent claiming to transport pilgrims to 2021 Hajj without Saudi Arabia’s clearance. Thereafter the Kingdom had categorically stated that only the 60,000 selected to perform Hajj from within Saudi Arabia shall be allowed access into the holy sites where the Hajj rites take place.

“Anyone caught at the vicinity without legal permit shall be fined 10,000 Saudi Riyals equivalent to over a million Naira. Saudi Press Agency has already informed of arrests due to violation of this restriction.

“NAHCON is reiterating the warning to general public to be cautious of falling victims to fraudsters in the name of Hajj travel agents. Such persons are preying on the desperation of some intending pilgrims to perform Hajj at all costs which in itself violates the Islamic principle of pilgrimage for the sake of Allah. Of course with entry visa, an individual can travel only as far as into Saudi Arabia but not near the holy sites without the Hajj permit whose issuance has long been closed.

“No foreign pilgrim was allowed to access the application website talk little of registering.

“It is also alleged that the so called Hajj agents connive with some Saudi legal residents through whose residential licenses (igama) they would secure the Hajj permit for their clients. The warning here is that the system is bio-metrical with the original owners’ data fully computed. Therefore the mismatch would be automatically detected once subjected to screening. No one should fall victim of detention and embarrassment for the sake of performing Hajj 2021.

“NAHCON urges all intending pilgrims to bear the Hajj restriction with patience until the situation is reversed. This patience will itself earn one handsome reward. Anyone who does contrary does so at his own peril.

“The general public is kindly invited to report to the Commission, any person collecting money and giving assurance of securing 2021 Hajj slot under the entry visa.

Vanguard News Nigeria

Ahead of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit coming up next year, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) recently joined forces with critical stakeholders in aviation emergency rescue operations to conduct a live aeronautic simulation of an air crash.

This took place at the Mafoluku area of Oshodi in Lagos, a few meters from Runway 18 Left and the local airport, Ikeja.

Code named “SAREXNAMA 2021,” the search and rescue exercise focused on a disaster that could result from an air crash and create mass casualty incident which requires a coordinated response from critical stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of managing aviation emergencies.

The mock air crash search and rescue exercise involved an aircraft with registration No. ZYMMM from Abuja to Accra. The aircraft diverted to Lagos due to electrical problem, and on board were 38 souls including 4 crew. In all, 15 survivors were rescued while 23 others were unaccounted for.

Addressing participants at the end of the exercise, the convener of the exercise and Managing Director of NAMA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, expressed delight over the huge turnout by different agencies and stakeholders.

The NAMA boss however noted that several gaps were observed during the exercise especially in the areas of coordination and response to alert, even as he assured that the agency would work assiduously with relevant stakeholders in order to close the said gaps.

Participants included all the aviation agencies, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigeria Air Force, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Federal Fire Service, Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), the Nigerian Red Cross, as well as Caverton Helicopters, among others.

As specified by the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) of ICAO Annex 12, Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulation Pt. 14 of 2005, NAMA Search and Rescue Manual and the National Disaster Response Plan by NEMA, in accordance with Act 12 of 1999 constitution, the mock search and rescue operation is being coordinated by NAMA annually in order to test the procedures and communication between NAMA and other agencies involved in search and rescue and their collaboration; ascertain the prompt response of NAMA facilities and personnel to an incident, ascertain the preparedness of other agencies involved in the exercise and their response to alert as well as verify the operability of the joint rescue coordination centre.

BY  Alexander Winning and Wendell Roelf

KEY POINTS

• Jailing of ex-president Zuma triggered initial protests
• Violence has broadened into protest over social injustice
• More than 40 killed so far in unrest
• Troops move in to flashpoints to help outnumbered police
• Shops, government buildings shut amid widespread looting

JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (Reuters) – Crowds clashed with police and ransacked or burned shopping malls in South Africa on Tuesday, with dozens reported killed as grievances unleashed by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma boiled over into the worst violence in years.

Protests that followed Zuma’s arrest last week have widened into looting and an outpouring of generalised anger over inequality that persists 27 years after the fall of apartheid. Poverty has been exacerbated by severe social and economic restrictions aimed at blocking the spread of COVID-19.

Security officials said the government was working to halt the spread of the violence and looting, which has so far spread from Zuma’s home in KwaZulu-Natal province to Gauteng province surrounding the country’s biggest city Johanesburg. They deployed soldiers onto the streets to try to contain it, but stopped short of declaring a state of emergency.

“No amount of unhappiness or personal circumstances from our people gives the right to anyone to loot, vandalise and do as they please and break the law,” Police Minister Bheki Cele told a news conference, echoing sentiments expressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa overnight.

The bodies of 10 people were found on Monday evening after a stampede at a Soweto shopping mall, premier David Makhura said.

Hundreds of looters raided warehouses and supermarkets in Durban, one of the busiest shipping terminals on the African continent and a major import-export hub.

Outside a Durban warehouse of retailer Game, Reuters filmed looters stuffing cars with electronic goods and clothes. Inside, the floor was a wreckage of discarded packaging as the crowd systematically emptied the shelves.

Aerial footage from local channel eNCA showed black smoke rising from several warehouses, while debris lay strewn.

Troops were moving into flashpoints on Tuesday as outnumbered police seemed helpless to stop the unrest. Columns of armoured personnel carriers rolled down highways.

The rand, which had been one of the best performing emerging market currencies during the pandemic, dropped to a three-month low on Tuesday, and local and hard currency bonds suffered.

UNFULFILLED PROMISE

At least 45 people have so far been killed during the unrest, 19 in Gauteng and 26 in KwaZulu-Natal, according to state and provincial authorities. Police Minister Cele put the official death toll at 10.

On the streets, protesters hurled stones and police who responded with rubber bullets, Reuters journalists said.

In Soweto, police and military were patrolling as shop owners assessed the damage.

Cele said 757 people had been arrested so far. He said the government would act to prevent it from spreading further and warned that people would not be allowed “to make a mockery of our democratic state”.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, speaking at the same news conference, said she did not think a state of emergency should be imposed yet.

Zuma, 79, was sentenced last month for defying a constitutional court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating high-level corruption during his nine years in office until 2018.

The legal proceedings have been seen as a test of post-apartheid South Africa’s ability to enforce the rule of law.

But any confrontation with soldiers risks fuelling charges by Zuma and his supporters that they are victims of a politically motivated crackdown by his successor, Ramaphosa.

The violence worsened as Zuma challenged his 15-month jail term in South Africa’s top court on Monday. Judgement was reserved until an unspecified date.

The deteriorating situation pointed to wider problems and unfulfilled expectations that followed the end of white minority rule in 1994. The economy is struggling to emerge from the damage wrought by Africa’s worst COVID-19 epidemic, with authorities repeatedly imposing restrictions on businesses.

Growing joblessness has left people ever more desperate. Unemployment stood at a new record high of 32.6% in the first three months of 2021.

(Additional reporting by Siyabonga Sishi in Durban and Tim Cocks, Siphiwe Sibeko and Tanisha Heiberg in Johannesburg Writing by Angus MacSwan and Tim Cocks Editing by Peter Graff)

BY  Juliana Ajayi

Some travel agents have bewailed the recent increase in the naira-dollar exchange rate, saying the travel industry is yet to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had in May devalued the naira as it adopted the NAFEX exchange rate of N410.25 per dollar as its official exchange rate, days after removing the N379/$ rate from its website.

Our correspondent gathered that travel agencies in the country had adjusted the exchange rate being used for foreign air tickets to N460/$1 from N440/$1.

The adjustment is expected to raise the cost of tickets for international flights.

The travel agents, who spoke to our correspondent, said the increase in the exchange rate would definitely affect air tickets.

The Chief Executive Officer, Nola Travels & Tours Limited, Olubiyi Oluwajoba, said travel agents saw the increase in exchange rate coming, adding that it was taking a toll on their businesses.

He noted that COVID-19 had hit the travel business hard and travel agencies were yet to recover from it.

One of the travel agencies visited by our correspondent in Ikeja, Lagos described the impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry as huge.

An official of the company said what was keeping the agency afloat was referrals from previous travellers.

The President, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agency, Susan Akporiaye, said the increase in the exchange rate was an issue that had been ongoing for a while.

She said, “The recent increase would not make any difference as it had been ongoing for a long time. The exchange rate has been above N400/$1 for a while.”

Akporiaye said for air travellers who were yet to book their tickets, it would have an impact on the tickets to be booked.

BY Juliana Ajayi

Delta Air Lines Inc. has resumed flight operations at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport to pre-pandemic level.

Flight operations between Lagos and New York-JFK are scheduled four times weekly.

The flight from New York-JFK joins Delta’s existing daily service to Atlanta, which restarted last September following a short suspension due to the airport’s closure at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline said the choice of nonstop services to its largest hubs enable customers to connect onto flights to 130 destinations across the United States within four hours of arrival in either Atlanta or New York.

Delta flies Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Nigeria, which include Delta One business class, complete with fully flat-bed seats and aisle access for all, as well as Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin, according to a statement on Monday.

The Delta Air Lines Commercial Director, Africa, Bobby Bryan, said “Delta is the longest-serving US airline in Nigeria and the country remains an important market for us.

“Facilitating trade as well as providing valuable air links for families and friends to re-connect is key to our mission here in Nigeria and around the globe. Never has this been more important as the world recovers from the pandemic.”

According to the statement, the additional service from New York also provides cargo customers with increased capacity for the safe transportation of cargo from Nigeria.

It said with short connection times in New York, cargo could be swiftly forwarded to destinations throughout the US and beyond.

Delta’s flights to Lagos, which have been in operation since 2007, support the continued economic and trade ties between Nigeria and the US.

Data from the Office of the US Trade Representative shows that the value of US goods and services trade with Nigeria totaled an estimated $10.4bn in 2019 with exports valued at $5.3bn and imports into the US worth $5.1bn. US foreign direct investment in Nigeria (stock), meanwhile, was $5.5bn in 2019, a 21.5 per cent increase from 2018.

Customers traveling between Nigeria and the US are encouraged to review entry requirements prior to travel.

BY  Khadija Kothia, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- More than one million people in England who are most at risk of becoming seriously ill from coronavirus are continuing to shield even after the U.K. government stopped advising them to stay at home, research suggested.

Only 37% of the 3.7 million people in England who are classed as “clinically extremely vulnerable” feel comfortable entering restaurants and bars or education settings, according to a survey of 1,066 people published by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday.

Some 29% -- the equivalent of more than one million people -- said they were still shielding, even though the government stopped advising them to do so from April 1.

Three-quarters of those who felt uncomfortable in educational, cultural or hospitality venues said mandatory wearing of face coverings would help put them at ease.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided to lift the legal requirement to wear face masks in crowded spaces and on public transport, along with other pandemic restrictions on July 19. Johnson is already facing calls to rethink his plan, with scientists warning that the country is heading for a peak of infections and as many as 2,000 hospital admissions a day next month.

England Faces Up to 200 Daily Covid Deaths When Peak Hits

The ONS survey is likely to add to pressure on Johnson’s government to retain some pandemic restrictions as cases rise.

On Monday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said people who are extremely vulnerable should “go to the shops and pharmacy at quieter times of the day” and avoid those who are not vaccinated.

• Says #EndSARS crisis carryover of COVID-19 frustrations
• Urges restructuring of markets, transport systems to prevent transmission

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has said that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed immensely to the upsurge of multifaceted insecurity crises and economic woes currently affecting the country.

He also disclosed that the #EndSARS crisis that rocked the country, which left 57 civilians, 37 policemen and six soldiers dead and property worth billions of naira destroyed, was a carryover of the COVID-19 frustrations.

According to him, COVID-19 pandemic led to the partial dismantling of economic activities, caused geometric increase in joblessness and offered opportunities for criminals to recruit the youths into their gangs.

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The former Osun State Governor spoke, yesterday, at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), while delivering a lecture entitled: “COVID -19: The Economy and Security,” to mark the third yearly lecture of the Faculty of Arts of the institution.

He warned that unless the nation’s markets, building settlements and transportation systems are revolutionised, there would always be easy transmission of COVID-19 or other communicable diseases in the near future, adding that the country may not be lucky next time.

The minister urged the security forces to always be proactive, saying that once there is instability in the income of people, those in low tolerance threshold will take to crimes.

“The effect of COVID-19 on the economy is humongous. It is not surprising therefore that the GDP fell by 23 per cent, while household incomes fell by 60 per cent. The fall in GDP was largely due to the fact that the four states put under lockdown account for two thirds of the economy.

“This development was a nightmare for the Nigerian economy, considering that oil accounts for 80 per cent of government revenues.”

Aregbesola revealed that the World Bank gave a pathetic account that private remittances of Nigerians in the Diaspora declined by between 80 and 90 per cent in the first quarter and 25 per cent in the whole of 2020.

In his submission, the EKSU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Eddy Olanipekun, stated that the issue of COVID-19 has posed challenges to the country’s social, economic and political affairs, saying time has come for the nation to build a strong response mechanism that can tame emergency situations.

The Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof. Ibrahim Abdu-Raheem, said the lecture was conceptualised to ruminate on how best the country could handle post-COVID-19 situation and redirect the economy for better prosperity for the nation.

BY  Monica Buchanan

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The European Central Bank took a first step on Wednesday towards launching a digital version of the euro, part of a global drive to meet growing demand for electronic means of payment and tackle a boom in cryptocurrencies.