Blue Air prosecuted

The Romanian airline Blue Air Aviation has been prosecuted by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) over Covid-19 offences on six counts.

Following a sentencing hearing at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on 22 February the airline has been fined £40,000, after pleading guilty to the offences.

Five of the offences concern Blue Air failing to ensure that passengers arriving at Heathrow had completed the required Passenger Locator Form. The sixth offence concerns the operator failing to ensure an arriving passenger had the required evidence showing that he had completed a pre-departure Covid test.

The CAA notes that this is the first prosecution of an airline under the Covid Enforcement Regulations, which gave new enforcement powers to the CAA to ensure airlines check passengers arriving in England are complying with the Covid rules for international travel.

Commenting on the ruling by the Court, Paul Smith, Consumer Director at UK CAA, said: “We welcome the Court’s decision to fine Blue Air Aviation over breaches of the Covid Enforcement Regulations. While we generally observe high levels of compliance from airlines against the regulations, it is important for consumer confidence and public health that failures to follow the requirements are dealt with appropriately.

“It is important that airlines including Blue Air continue to engage with us going forward. The UK Civil Aviation Authority will always look to prosecute breaches of compliance where necessary”.

Blue Air, established in 2004, is Romania’s largest airline in terms of passengers carried.  Headquartered in Bucharest it has a fleet of 15 Boeing 737s including the MAX, and operates into both Heathrow and Luton airports in the UK.

www.flyblueair.com

www.caa.co.uk

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