My flight to the UK during lockdown Covid-19

In the lead up to lockdown we had visitors in Dubai. My flight with BA was scheduled for 10am on March 24th. Our last lot of visitors were leaving on the 20th so we were keeping a close eye on the flight schedules. Theirs went on time on the Friday morning however, at the same time, mine was cancelled. I rebooked immediately onto the next available flight which was 2pm on the same day. On the Sunday night, Emirates cancelled all flights in and out of Dubai and BA were further reducing their services eventually down to just one a day. In the end I was actually on the last BA flight out of Dubai.

I needed to return to the UK, we'd just taken possession of our family home back from tenants in the December, I'd changed the locks and had some basic work carried out, the cat and dog had flown over on February the 1st and I'd returned to Dubai on March 3rd as we had 2 lots of visitors scheduled to arrive. My Mother in Law was house and pet sitting for the 3 weeks I was away and our eldest child is in a care home in the UK and we knew there was a possibility that I may need to be there to care for her, should the situation worsen.

Saying goodbye to Peter not knowing when we'd next see one another was hard. I packed one suitcase with essentials, being fortunate enough to already have winter clothing, toiletries etc in the UK and I'd done a large shop stocking up with loo roll, cleaning products and pet food back in February as I knew I wouldn't have a car when I got back to the UK. I also did 2 food online shops, 1 for me and 1 for my mum to ensure we had enough supplies, which thankfully were done just before the UK started panic buying.

On arrival at Terminal 3 in Dubai, social distancing was in place, the floor marked and staff now all wearing gloves and face masks, having made regular visits to the airport over the past 2 weeks, in both departures and arrivals, we noticed quite a stark change and the silence was deafening. The shops had only started the social distancing the week before, but pubs, bars and tourist attractions had shut down on March 16th and the malls were almost empty of shoppers.

Arrivals hall Dubai Terminal 1, never have I seen it so quiet.

After check in and saying our goodbyes I went through the departure gates where I was asked if I was a resident or a tourist. On replying I was a resident, I was asked to sign a mandatory form stating I agreed to a 2 weeks stay in a medical facility upon my return to Dubai. At this point I realised I wouldn't be coming back any time soon and after receiving an exit stamp in my passport I filed through to departures.

The terminal was almost empty and it was easy to social distance. I'd receive an email in the morning to tell me that it was unlikely any food and drink would be available on the 7 hours flight to Heathrow, so I stocked up in the duty free.

I was surprised that the flight was full and we were all sitting next to one another as usual, flight stewards weren't wearing masks or gloves, but if I'm honest that pleased me as gloves and masks don't stop the spread like people think they do and I'd already observed people weren't changing the gloves as often as they should be washing their hands.

A full food service was provided, I carried anti bacterial wipes and cleaned my screen, seat belt and tray table, despite being informed the plane had already been fully sanitised. I settled back to the flight.

On arrival in Heathrow, I expected long queues for passport control, but to my surprise the electronic gates were open and we were being directed straight through. No questions about where we'd travelled from, no instructions to self quarantine, only a woman meekly asking if people would like a leaflet.

Again it was deathly silent and I was grateful to get outside, to empty skies where my friend had kindly offered to collect me and house me for the night before I made my journey across the UK to reach Malvern and home.

Heathrow T5 7pm

Travelling across the UK on the 26th March was eerily quiet, trains were cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted several times during my journey. The staff at all the stations couldn't have been more helpful, everywhere was closed, no one was out unless they were making essential travel and most like me were trying to get to or from the airport or just home within the UK. 

Quite literally one person per carriage, regular announcements asking us to social distance.

 Birmingham New Street around 1pm

There were a couple of incidents on route where passengers were shouting at rail and station staff about changing trains and few announcements, but they were dealt with professionally by the staff.

I arrived home in Malvern after almost 4 hours, with a short walk via the shop to collect milk and I self isolated for 14 days. My Mother in Law had left and returned to her home in Bristol as I was making my way back on the train.

As much as I'd love to see my husband and we can now travel as residents and citizens of the UK and the UAE, we have no desire to take a non essential trip with quarantine either side, in total of 4 weeks, for a 2 week visit.

Expat travel with a teenager

My last major trip was to the UK in April where my 15 yo son and I travelled by train, coach, bus, car and foot between Leeds and Bath while he was on his easter holidays. We stayed with family, friends and in hotels. Since then I’ve had a trip to Kruger which was a working holiday and this week the teenager and I are heading off to Cape Town Friday till Wednesday.

We are travelling by train and leave Johannesburg central station at 12.30pm arriving in Cape Town at 3.30pm the following day. We have booked accommodation a 5 minute walk from the waterfront and are flying back home Wednesday night with avios collected with British Airways.

The whole trip has cost less than R5000/£278. While we are in Cape Town we will be travelling on the Big Red Bus, taking a trip up Table Mountain, visiting the aquarium, whale watching and a helicopter ride over the bay. We’ve yet to book these excursions and have approached companies to see if they’d be interested in a sponsored blog post or two with numerous tweets, face book updates and instagrams thrown in at random.

Hubby will be dropping us at the station Friday an hour before the train leaves, due to the barriers closing prior to departure, we have a bag of snacks and food packed for the journey as this is South Africa and one ever knows what will happen, don’t want to be stuck with no food or drink for over 24 hours. I wonder if they'll let us braai on the train. We are also taking bedding with us, although it is provided at R55 pppn, there have been disputes recently, if bedding is available hubby will take it home, which will make our flight back a lot easier without sleeping bags and pillows.

Both the teenager and I are very excited about our upcoming trip, especially as public transport isn't available in Gauteng apart from the Gautrain which is quite expensive. Watch out for photos, tweets and blog posts. I'm not sure we'll have a lot of internet access, especially on the train, but we do have free wi fi in our apartment.

New regulations for unaccompanied minors entering and leaving South Africa

How to get through South African Immigration as a child.

Despite having a visa issued by the South African Embassy in London in 2011 and renewed in South Africa in December 2013 there are 3 different procedures to follow here and the only thing I know for sure is that whether a child travels with their parents or on their own, they must carry an unabridged birth certificate with them.

Travelling with one parent, then a letter from the other parent and the birth certificate to state this person has permission to fly with their child. In the case of a desceased parent then the death certificate must be carried and in the case where the other parent is absent and cannot give permission then a court order is needed.

But what happens if the child is travelling on their own, is over 15 and the airline allows unaccompanied minors on their flight and the parents are divorced, the mother has a new surname and there is no court order because the parents never questioned custody?

Having spent most of the week on the internet and telephone I am still none the wiser as to whether the suggestions I received from the South African Immigration website, British High Commission and Deloitte should suffice.

I’m afraid ‘should suffice’ is not enough for me or my son. He arrives in SA with British Airways on July 27^th. I have the following documents as recommended which have been certified at SAPS (police) and will be sending them via DHL once I’ve been given clearance from immigration.

An unaccompanied child must carry with them the following:

Birth Certificate (unabridged) which actually reads on the bottom

‘WARNING: THIS CERTIFICATE IS NOT EVIDENCE OF THE IDENITY OF THE PERSON PRESENTING IT’

A letter from me with contact details stating I am the person collecting him.

A letter from me giving permission for him to enter and then leave SA.

A copy of my passport.

A copy of my divorce certificate and new marriage certificate to prove my name on his birth certificate and how it links with my passport now.

A letter from his father that needs witnessing by a solicitor to give permission for his son to visit me in SA and a separate letter to give permission for his son to leave SA and return to the UK.

I took these documents to OR Tambo airport today to speak with immigration directly to ensure these documents will suffice. The staff, via the twitter account @ortambo_int, were amazing, making phone calls, visiting immigration where I couldn't access, explaining my dilemma then phoning me back to direct me to where I needed to be. I was told my documents were good and son will clear immigration when he presents them, but due to the confusion the new law this has now been postponed until October.

I’m sure there is an easier way, but I can’t find one. My 15 year old is more than capable of travelling half way round the world on his own, finding the right gate etc, but I’m not sure if he’s equipped to deal with immigration after a 12 hour flight.



UPDATE after contacting British Airways who son is flying with. Taken from Foreign Travel Advice.

Even BA can't confirm what travel documents my son would need after October 1st but believe it would be best for him to travel with the following after highlighting the fact that have to be very careful - if your son is refused entry into SA we will be heavily fined:


- a machine-readable passport
- minimum of one full blank page in his passport although Immigration state 2 clear pages
- a copy of the documentation from the SA High Commission that was received with his granted student visa application, including all information relating to him being able to travel on a one-way ticket (standard SA-issued advice says that visitors should hold a return ticket or pay a deposit if on a one-way ticket). We would also say that if there becomes a query at the airport about his one-way ticket, it would be helpful to have with him some kind of proof of how his return ticket will be arranged/paid for (unless his visa application answers this issue fully). Ideally, our Terminal 5 team say an open-dated return ticket might have been better for him to travel on - these can be open for a return flight up to 12 months ahead
- his full/unabridged birth certificate 
- an affidavit from both parents giving their consent for his journey, including agreement for him to travel to SA on a one-way ticket. Please include permanent home addresses on this
- proof of his study in SA. This should be a letter-headed document that confirms he is a current student at their facility, the course he is on and the term dates they expect to receive him between.

UPDATE Son arrived and cleared immigration, no questions asked or documentation requested