Lufthansa will fly back to Madeira on June 3rd

Tobi Hughes·
News Blog

Lufthansa announced today that it will resume flights between Frankfurt and Madeira on 3 June. However, Switzerland’s Edelweiss, with a flight scheduled for May 30, from Zurich, is expected to be the first company in the group to resume air operations to the Region.

The largest European aviation group announced today that it will return, for now, to 106 destinations, including Madeira.

Munich flights are back on June 6. On the same day, Brussels Airlines, another group company, returns to the island, departing from Brussels.

With this resumption of scheduling of air operations, the regional authorities should now be studying the end of mandatory quarantine.

From RTP Madeira

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Tobi Hughes

21 Responses

    1. Totally agree, why risk a second wave of covid-19? Yes we want to get some form of normality back, but can you really see people being strict on distancing etc.

  2. The Airlines are working to double standards.
    Is Madeira going to lift the Quarantine Regulations anytime soon?
    Are other destinations likely to change,Spain and Germany relaxed conditions, there was a rise almost immeadiatly in
    infections, Germany locked down the source of the outbreak, my freinds in Teneriffe are expecting to start playing golf as of next week,however, quaratine regulations still apply.
    The Airlines state [Ryanair CEO stated the figures on live TV]that they need better than 60% capacity to break even, why then, are they willing to start flying when they will almost certainly have under capacity.
    How many like minded, sensible travellers are ready to risk, not only their own health but more importanly the health of many, many more by travelling in a sealed tube at 30,000 ft breathing and exhaling recirculated air.
    I dearly want to get back to Madeira, its beutiful surroundings, its wonderful citizens, however,the last thing I want to do is put those citizens at risk.
    As I said earlier the Airlines are working to double standards, they are prepared to fly and loose money, yet they are seeking finacial aid from Governments.
    Yes,we need to get back to a ‘New Normal’ but not to the detriment of others.
    Its been announced today, the UK are putting in new Quarantine regulations relating to visitors to the UK [should have been in place when lockdown was implimented] this smacks of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. However better late than never.
    As I said I dearly want to get back to Madeira, but not yet, not until we can be certain we are not going to put anyone else at risk.

    1. Martyn Green, you’re so right! Unfortunately there are a lot of self centered and dumb people in this world, they will go on a plane and bring themselves (but who cares about that, that’s their choice) and people on their destination in danger. The Madeiran government did so well dealing with the pandamic but all of a sudden they’ve changed their strategy and in the coming 10 days, step by QUICK step (and not the dance) everything will be open again and they are thinking about how to end the mandatory quarantaine for people arriving on the island, believe me that quarantaine will be over soon and every Jack and Jill can visit. All the safety measurements, they’re just false security, masks are being used wrongly, disposable masks are not being disposed after one use, washable mask will not be washed right away etc, masks only protect for 20% IF the right mask is used in the right way.. We have been at home for 7 weeks to stay save and were planning to do so for another 4 weeks to see how things develop, to see if there is going to be an increase in Corona cases or not. If it would stay stable we planned to end our voluntary quarantaine but since airlines are coming to Madeira again soon, we would have to stay home for months to see if it’s safe, that’s impossible of course. So…7 weeks at home down the drain, a joke, we may as well go everywhere again because there’s no way anymore to protect ourselfs, it’s frightening! Social distance, 1 1/2 meter, almost impossible in many places, wait and see people will soon not stick to that, they already forget. It’s playing Russian roulette with the people.

  4. No way they’d be relaxing mandatory quarantine just because some airlines schedule a handful of flights. The people would never stand for it after how far we’ve come.

    Nothing the regional government has said even hints at dropping quarantine. They’ve said quite clearly that for tourism to start again the people flying here will have to be able to prove they are not a threat to the local population. And yesterday Albuquerque stated that this relaxation of the lockdown in Madeira is dependent upon the epidemiological situation continuing in the same way – if we get a glut of new cases again (including importations from tourists) then everybody goes back inside again, so why would they risk choking of the activity of a quarter of a million people just to accommodate a dribble of tourists who, if they came, would only cause many Madeirans to stay indoors as much as they did just before the tourists left anyway?!

    1. Exactly! The ‘dribble’ of tourists I guess will be those who have a 2nd home on Madeira and would rather stay in isolation/quarantine on their property in Madeira rather than isolation in say the UK, Germany or other country. There’s bound to be a rather chaotic initial return to ‘normal’ air travel with the varying airlines and countries involved. However, given time and the realisation by airlines that running a route 50% or 60% empty in the early period is not viable AND together with their prospective customers reluctance to pay twice or three times the normal fees for a seat then perhaps fiscal and good old common sense will eventually prevail!

      Like many others in the same situation my wife and I have missed out on our regular Spring visit to Funchal to see the Jacaranda trees in full blossom. We’re now, with some reluctance, assuming it will not improve even for our other regular visit in September, and we are now resigned to looking forward to two weeks over Christmas 2020 and the New Year 2021.

  5. It is interesting to note a German airline announces flight schedules to Madeira not yet announced by the local government
    No other company has announced such, so one can only assume pressure is being placed upon Madeira to open up.
    If the flight does arrive I expect the passengers will be escorted by the Police to quarantine

  6. A possible solution as reported in the Independant today:

    Is there any alternative to quarantine for identifying carriers?
    Yes, at least according to the Austrian authorities, which are already operating a 14-day quarantine policy. Passengers arriving at Vienna airport can avoid it by attending a medical centre near the terminal and undergoing a test for coronavirus.

    Participants must pay €190 (£166) and wait for three hours for the results, but if they pass they have a “get out of jail free” card and need not self-isolate.

    Maybe Madeira could consider something similar ?

    1. I don’t think that will be enough, at least not in June which is when Lufthansa group is restarting the flights. I just read UK is considering mandatory quarantine for anyone arriving in the UK. That has happened also in Germany. Who will be willing to fly in those conditions even if Madeira lifts or loosens its resctrictions? Is it worth lifting the quarantine and taking risks for an airplane with 20 occupied seats? Doubt…

      I think the “green zone” will be in place in a first stage. Countries like Denmark, Norway, Finland, Austria which have very few cases implies a lower risk and might be subject to different restrictions. I think we’ll have to wait for September or October to have standard procedures across the countries which give more confidence to travellers.

      1. Not sure I follow you Antonio. “I don’t think that will be enough” Are you saying it won’t be enough for people to be tested on arrival at their cost and if they prove negative for covid-19 be allowed to holiday in Madeira?

        The UK is not bringing in a mandatory quarantine, it is bringing in a ‘please isolate at home for 14 days or we will fine you’ type of approach. The UK also expect these people to make their own way home on trains, buses and taxis.

        1. People queing in airports, security controls, boarding gates, airplane, etc . Testing negative at the airport at arrival just gives a false sense of safety because we don’t know if that person will give positive two or three days later.

          Your description sounds mandatory quarantine to me. If it wasn’t mandatory people would not be fined. Is it because the “please” was added? 🙂

          1. It is the way how the mandatory part is handled. Mandatory at home with all the bells and whistles and without police looking at you 24/7 is way better than what is done in Madeira right now.

    2. Those tests only show if a person has a relatively high viral load already. They cannot definitely rule out that a person is infected and has a lower viral load than the threshold of the test which then grows later and makes them infectious, nor can they stop a person picking it up at the airport and then passing it on later. Many people have tested negative in isolation and then subsequently tested positive days later, including here in Madeira where outbreaks have occurred and an entire town has been sealed off as a result of this. I’m all for innovative solutions but this would be way to dangerous. The trainer of one of the local football teams took a similar test before arriving here recently and though he was negative was still made to isolate for 14 days.

  11. As the “Camara de Lobos Four” proved. You can test negative one day and 2 weeks later test positive despite being in isolation lockdown. Testing is still not 100% and professionals are still learning about the virus. The population here has been locked up for weeks so unless any Lufthansa arrivals go into mandatory quarantine for at least 2 weeks minimum and get multiple testing, the whole sacrifice of recent weeks will have been a crazy sham. The UK is just about to try and introduce 14 day quarantine for all arriving visitors to stem the virus, surely we wont do the opposite!

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