Flying during a global pandemic.
Disclaimer: Description of a lot of first world problems!
I arrived in Mauritius back in March, two days before the borders were closed. Naïve me thought that oh it will be what, one or two months max, then I’ll be able to go back to the UK. Fast forward 5 months, still in Mauritius, with no sign of borders reopening… Given that the country was now finally COVID free, the government is reluctant to open up borders, which makes sense. But I needed to leave! My belongings were in storage, my PhD viva was pending, and I was totally missing out on my last summer in Cambridge! Loose ends do not sit well with me and my overthinking brain! After a lot of waiting and stressing (mostly stressing), came the good news that Mauritians would be allowed to board repatriation flights going to France and the UK! Happy times, right? Not exactly!
Then started the unusual journey of flying under COVID rules. For the first time, I needed to get an official letter from my supervisors, ‘inviting’ me back to the UK, given that the university was opening up in stages. This was because only those with solid reasons for travelling would be prioritised. Then came the much dreaded COVID test. One word to describe it: ew. You know the dangly thing at the back of your throat, the uvula? They rub the swab all around it… yep, very unpleasant, but very quick as well! I was super happy that Mauritius was added to the exempt list from quarantine in the UK but then found out the flight was going through France, which is not exempt! Through endless phone calls to the flying companies and even pilot friends, I eventually found out that it is an ‘offboarding only’ stop, which meant the remaining passengers stay on the plane, with no contact with people on the ground. In short, no quarantine required in the UK! Pheww! Rollercoaster, am I right?
Now, I don’t usually fly Air Mauritius because 12 hours, with cramped leg space and unappealing food is not the one. But I had no choice this time, and it would be 14.5 hours flight, with the stop in France, yikes. Well, beggars can’t be choosers. Fun fact, you can’t even choose your seat while booking, you can do so while checking in online 30 hours pre-flight. That would have been fine, except there was no online check-in allowed for this flight! So, I arrived at the airport a bit more than 3 hours before the flight. The airport is mostly closed and only passengers are allowed in and there is already a long ass queue, snaking its way across the whole departure floor. I skipped the queue and proudly marched my way to the special line as I have a frequent flyer silver card, checked-in my many suitcases and got my aisle seat, to then realise that my card expired 2 years ago. Awkward! Thank God, no one checked! Walking with confidence like you know where you’re going defo works!
I said my emotional goodbyes to the parents outside of the airport, whizzed through security for once and got to a completely closed duty-free area, with one coffee spot opened. Our gate is the only lit area of the airport, making it look even more dramatic! We finally got on the plane, greeted by air hostesses completely clad in what looks like a white hazmat suit to me, and a pungent smell emanating from the whole plane, very similar to hospital smells. I was secretly hoping for social distancing inside the plane for more napping space but the whole plane was packed, with not even one free seat. Small talk and talking to random strangers have never been an issue for us Mauritians, so everyone was commenting on the weirdness of the whole situation while sharing lockdown stories and hand sanitizers.
I was pleasantly surprised by how strictly everyone adhered to wearing their masks throughout the flight while respecting the 2m distance in queues for the bathroom. Food was not served on the usual trays with lots of small containers. Instead, we were handed packed cardboard boxes with the extra hot food box. It was an odd experience overall, but rest assured somethings remain the same, such as the person next to me hogging the armrest or people rushing to retrieve luggage from the overhead drawers as soon as the plane landed! Good old human nature!
Landing in the UK, it felt less weird, as the airport was less abandoned. The new addition being people crouched in different spots across the airport, filling in the locator form on their phone! It’s the form everyone has to fill in 48hrs pre-arrival in the UK, especially used to track those that have to self-quarantine. The officer at border control said they gave up on checking the locator forms as people either did not fill it in, or filled it in wrong, or forgot to bring a copy of it! Self-quarantine might not be that well-regulated or the best solution…
This was literally the longest flight I have ever taken, and by far the least fun one (I even got airsickness for the first time ever) but it is also a unique experience, and I am glad to be finally on the other side! And yes, I have sorted out my storage stuff, met my wonderful friends, trying to enjoy the last days of summer while I prep for my viva! Let’s hope traveling will become more normal or we get better at adapting to the new normal!