Thinksamuel

Hello

Is it possible to take a flight into London (coming from São Paulo) and then go to St Pancras to take the Eurostar to continue to Brussels or would the passenger not be allowed on the flight?

corporate-wage-slave

I think you will need to provide more information, but in the absence of that, and to answer the question, the traveller would need a visa for the UK, or hold a nationality that allows access into the UK without a visa.

Thinksamuel

The passenger is a Brazilian national (so no visa needed). Just for clarification: she holds a visum (long stay) for Belgium which she will be picking up tomorrow from the consulate.

reason for doing it like this is that there are no flight from London to Brussels (on BA).

Skipcool3

You would still need to satisfy the Immigration Officer that you were in transit... might be better to fly to Amsterdam and get the train back. ?

KARFA

would they? I mean I am not suggesting they lie about the purpose, but as a Brazilian National they can enter the UK for no more than 6 months anyway so I am not sure they need to prove they are in transit as such. If asked, they may need to show their ticket leaving the country but that would just be the Eurostar ticket.

they would need to complete a uk passenger locator form

DoctorCopper

Unless I am mistaken, under current circumstances, a passenger from Brazil arriving into the UK is obliged to quarantine for 14 days. Therefore an onward journey to Brussels - on the same day as the arrival day from Brazil - would break UK law.

Doc Copper

KARFA

self isolation in England is for a period of 14 days or whenever you leave the country, whichever is earlier. so i am not sure that is an issue here.

ScienceTeacher

It is my understanding the 14 self isolation can be cut short to leave the country ✅

Thinksamuel

Ok, se I booked the flight to GRU-LHR-FRA. Amsterdam is becoming a red zone so arriving from there would mean immediate isolation. Goinng to Frankfurt, she gets a free test on arrival (thank you Red Cross Germany) and then she takes a Flixbus onward to Brussels.

Now: I am trying to do the online checkin but the syste is asking passport information and although everything seems correct, it gives an error and asks to see if the details are correct. Any idea what is going on with OLCI?

While I am here: the layover is 8 hours in Heathrow. What is the lounge situation at the moment? How long can she stay there?

scottishpoet

some lounges are open, depends who she is flying with, what class of travel or status etc etc/ I am not aware of any airline lounges that limit the stay but, 1/ it cannot be overnight, and 2/ I find after around 4 hours they become tediously boring

If its a paid lounge some may limit access to 3 hours

orbitmic

For the record, arriving into LHR to then take Eurostar is not convenient at all and Frankfurt is going to make for a long trip. Next time, flights permitting, I’d strongly recommend flying to CDG or AMS, then direct fast train to Brussels from either airport (1hr from cdg).

Scillybear

It is certainly the case, according to the latest information from GOV.UK on line, that the 14 self isolation can be cut short to leave.

It clearly states that one of the circumstances the 14-day Isolation can be broken is to leave the country.

It is also the case that public transport, although best avoided if possible, can be used to get to the point of isolation.

So going from Heathrow to St Pancras by tube /train in theory should be fine.

But in the OP's case, the person doesn't actually plan to self-Isolate in the UK at all. I am not sure if that makes any difference.

I would have thought there would be no problem, but there doesn't seem to be any advice on this sort of "transit" trip on the GOV.UK site.

Clarification would be useful because it surely applies to any kind of transit trip (Heathrow to Gatwick etc..).

corporate-wage-slave

If you look at (e.g.) the England Statutory Instrument, it is clear that self isolation is a process that exists between arrival into England and resuming active life in England. Leaving England removes the requirement to self isolate, that is specifically in the SI, and I don't think it could be any clearer that this permitted, so long as it is done "directly".

More details in the main thread in the Covid forum.

Scillybear

I accept you are correct.

Do you know whether the Passenger Locator Form still asks for an isolation address in England if you enter the same date for entry and exit into the country ?

One would assume that it doesn't ?

corporate-wage-slave

The form does allow for a departure date, and you can effectively enter something like "in transit Heathrow to Brussels via Eurostar" as an address. There is a separate "transit" option, but that's intended for those staying airside.