morro

I am returning to Portugal on the 13th of September. Flying Bristol to Faro with Easyjet. I am a Portuguese resident with a double jab EU certificate. Government policies say that I do not need an Antigen test! But I have heard on other sites that Easyjet at Bristol are arguing otherwise. Had anyone travelled this route with Easyjet recently?

chislenko

This is something I can't seem to get an answer to also. Albeit my query is with Brittany Ferries. I have emailed them three times and they don't answer.

Do you need a test to board a plane or boat!!!!!

Edit. Incredibly despite extensive searching before I have finally found my answer which says on their website "No test to board"

riv

If you cannot get an answer ( which you can print out to show at the check in ) by a week or so prior to departure then personally I wouldn't risk it. You can get the test for less than £50 - at least it-s the cheaper of the two.

Portuguese law / rules may well state that you are entitled to enter the territory without this test..........but if Easyjet erroneously think otherwise they will still stop you boarding for fear ( however erroneous ) of them being fined.

I can also ( as a retired lawyer ) understand the reluctance of Easyjet and the Ferry people to give you a straight answer : if they, however well intentionedly, tell you ( erroneously ) that the Test is NOT required, and then on arrival it turns out that it was required all along ( but they didn't know ) then they render themselves liable to you in tort law for having misled you into a you being fined / interned situation..

What if, for example, they tell you today ( correctly ) that the test is not required. Then nearer your departure date the rules change and it is..........
Is it reasonable to expect them to have a system which remembers the ( now erroneous ) info which they provided you with in good faith ?
You and maybe thousands of others.

One can understand the reluctance of private firms to provide you with specific advice.

dingg

Travelled back from ncl via ams to Lisbon on Wednesday, at check in klm desk was asked whether we had been tested or were we flying under having had eu vaccine certificates.

No problem not having a test, just handed over our eu certificates and allowed to proceed.

​​​​​​

riv

PS

Since you ask the question ' Do you need a Test to board a plane or a boat ?' ie you are asking the question whether this is or should be the case irrespective of Government requirements at the other end of the journey.

Well, thinking about it, again with my ( retired) lawyer's chape'u on............I would argue that it is perfectly reasonable for a ferry company or a plane company to require ALL passengers boarding to have taken reasonable precautions against being carriers of Covid ( which they might unwittingly spread to other passengers on the same vessel / plane ). And these precautions might well be specified by the companies as being a negative Test within a day or so prior to boarding. And this might well be irrespective of the rules laid down by any Government.

The argument would go as follows : the Ferry / Plane company has a duty of care ( in general tort law ) to ALL its passengers. Simple example : it must provide safety rails to stop people falling over the side of the boat.

It could well be argued that in the current, world wide, Covid situation, that failure on the part of the Ferry / Plane company to ensure as far as reasonably possible, that all persons boarding were free of Covid infection, would render them liable in general tort law ( nothing to do with the Government ) should someone become infected on board ( perhaps suffering serious and prolonged illness ) via the viral particles emanating from a fellow passenger ( unchecked for Covid and in fact infected and infectious ) .

The argument against the Ferry Company ( who would be the party to be sued for preference against the infectious person, the Ferry company having deeper pockets ) in tort law would be that they 'set the scene' ( by not requiring a negative Test ) for the plaintiff to become infected.

So yes, thinking about it, it does seem reasonable that a Ferry or Plane company might well require all boarding to have a very recent Negative test.
And they can make this part of their contractual terms with the intending passenger/s : ie if you want us to carry you you must not only pay the Fare but also possess a negative Covid test 24 hours prior to boarding.

If I were a lawyer advising the Ferry / Plane people, the more I think about it , the more I think I would be failing in my duty not to advise the companies along these lines.

Remember that so far there have been few if any civil law cases brought related to Covid infections............. There may well be hundreds or thousands in the pipeline. Bankruptcy could loom for companies not taking reasonable precautions to keep their customers ( Ferries / Restaurants / Nightclubs and many more ) safe.

All thanks to the snail in the ginger ale bottle [ Donoghue vs Stevenson ].

Rambling archer

AFAIK - having booked a flight with Easyjet but within the EU, Easyjet clearly state that the conditions of travel with Covid-19 about are such that you are required to look up the government site of the country you are travelling to to check the ENTRY requirements of that country - which will depend also on the country you are travelling from.
As agreed above, the rules can and probably will change (UK have just updated their green/amber/red list today!) and Portugal checks and updates regularly too. As Riv says, the company cannot be held responsible for what a country decides and can only do their best to get their customers informed ... they provided me with the relevant link for the outward trip, and then the return trip.
At present Portugal sees the UK as a yellow risk so everyone coming in from the UK should have at least the Antigen test, if fully vaccinated but then no need to quarantine.
Travel between the EU countries who have signed up to the EU certifcate (eg amsterdam to Lisbon) requires the vaccination cert only.

GrahamF

I hope the airlines insist on test, regardless of country rules. There's also the potential problem if flight is missed so decide to take alternative via another country which does require test.