The Journey Home and the Arrival in the UK

Without going into too much duplicated detail, the airport at Nice was very well organised and yet again, apart from the obligatory face coverings required, was surprisingly normal! Plenty of people, yes a reduced service of flights of course, but still rather bustling – perhaps it was because it was later in the day, perhaps it was because France is a couple of weeks in front on us with regards to lockdown restrictions. All of the shops on the airside were open, most of the seats were taken, although people were being rather sensible and leaving a seat free between their family group and another one – there was no seating restrictions enforced. Going through security was exactly the same, as was passport control. I thought I’d try the EU Biometric line to see if my passport would still be accepted – and I was pleased to see it was (Phew, for now…). The flight home was nowhere near as busy as the flight out, and I had three seats to myself which was a treat. Initially the air-conditioning was not working (!) and wearing a mandatory face mask made things a little hot and sweaty, but thankfully the engineers soon sorted this out. The air stewards were quick to point out that it was mandatory to cover your nose and mouth throughout, the only exceptions were when you were eating and drinking and also for children under the age of 6. Although I became used to wearing the face covering, it can be rather claustrophobic… On arrival into Gatwick, disembarkation was again very well organised – nice and swift and safe too. Unlike the outbound journey, our flight pulled into a stand which was furthest away from the terminal, so there was still the extremely long walk to passport control. It was quite quiet at Passport Control, a few signs advising you must social distance and sanitise your hands, and notably the sign stating you must ‘show your Contact Locator Form’ – this was something I had not been advised of by easyJet, and quite frankly I should have looked into myself before travelling, but (as I’m sure was the same with many other travellers) I hadn’t completed. I advised the Immigration Office of this, and she simply waived me through – a bit odd I thought. No temperature checks either. In any case, I would recommend completing this locator information online at www.gov.uk/uk-border-control The biometric passport machines were not operational either – perhaps they wanted to properly vet us? Anyhow, the few shops on the airside of Gatwick arrivals were not open (with exception of Boots), so it was rather like arriving back with a bang – things seem a little stricter here than in France. Possibly, as I said before, because the French are a few weeks ahead of us in terms of lockdown lifting, but to be honest, this was nothing that I hadn’t expected. Taking everything into consideration, I am so glad that I took the trip away. To see how Covid-19 had changed the way we travel, how things had changed in the holiday resorts we are so used to. Naturally, my experience is focused around easyJet flights and the French Riviera, but hopefully it gives you an idea of what to experience, generally.