Urrrrgh. My son (British citizen) has been living in Qatar for the last eight years. He now has a wife (Romanian) and child who was born in Qatar earlier this year - our first grandchild.

We're desperate to see them. And they were planning on making a Christmas visit next week. Isolating with us for seven days, then going back to Qatar, where they'd have to isolate again. That was until Boris made his announcement this afternoon.

I can't seem to find a definitive answer on the Govt websites - I just seem to keep going round and round in circles!

Question: Does anyone know if my son, his wife, and baby, can still fly in to the UK from Qatar next week? Or are flights from the Middle East banned, etc?

Please - I know I might get responses saying that they shouldn't be flying in, etc. And I respect that. But without going into details, there are reasons why it's important that we see them soon.

Thanks for reading, and for any advice.

More info here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavi...avel-corridors

AFAIK QR are still running flights between Qatar and UK.

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/trav...19-update.html

https://covid19.moph.gov.qa/EN/Pages...-COVID-19.aspx

Flights into the UK have never been "banned".

Thanks so much for this info, psychopomp! Much appreciated. Seems like they can still fly then...

To be fair, they may decide not to travel due to the coronavirus surges that are happening. But at least I have some more info to share with them. Thanks again!

My apologies - just some bad wording on my part.

Not Qatar, but .... Saudi Arabia shuts land, air, sea borders over fears of a new strain of coronavirus: https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/601634

I would be thinking about the consequences of travel if I were them. Saudi closed borders very quickly, other countries in the region may follow.

BBC News - Covid: Nations impose UK travel bans over new variant
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55385768

And many other countries in Europe. I would definitely be reconsidering my plans, although fairly soon there may not be a decision to be made.

Last night EU banned travel from UK over high numbers of the new strain of Covid. Other countries like KSA are sure to follow. This is not the time to travel !

Yup - I’ve just spoken to him and we’ve decided that it’s not worth risking it. If they fly in, and get trapped over here, it’ll have detrimental effects on his business in Qatar. It’s sad, but we won’t be seeing them for Christmas.

They’ll re-evaluate in a few weeks and we’ll see what the situation is then.

Thanks for everyone’s replies on this thread - it’s very much appreciated!

The situation is very fluid. At this very moment, they can leave and return to Qatar if they meet the required conditions and criteria. The current restriction is you can get a return permit which is automatic if they were in Qatar (and holding residency permits) in November. They will also be subject to quarantine requirements.

Things can change (and have changed) quickly in response to developments.

Saudi, Kuwait and Oman have shut things down today