High Covid infection rates in the UK appear to have triggered a travel ban by Morocco.
An easyJet flight from London Gatwick to Marrakesh that was scheduled to leave this afternoon has been cancelled.
The airline is telling passengers: “We’re sorry that your flight has been cancelled.
“We have been advised of a change of regulation that affects flights from UK arriving into Morocco.
“The regulation comes into effect from tomorrow 21 October 2021, however as we’ll be unable to fly to Morocco in order to operate any return flights after today, we’ve taken the decision to cancel your flight with us today.”
Marrakesh is the key Moroccan destination for British travellers. On Monday Ryanair announced a new route from Edinburgh to the city, starting in December.
According to the Our World In Data website, the rate of new Covid infections in a week per million people last Monday was 639 for the UK and 11 for Morocco – with British coronavirus rates almost 60 times higher than in the North African holiday favourite.
The apparent travel ban comes days before the main half-term week for families in England and Wales.
The Independent has asked easyJet for more details, as well as the UK representative for Visit Morocco.
The Foreign Office has not changed its advice for Morocco.
The news follows concerns in August that Morocco could be added to the UK’s red list.