Help students come home from UK, union urges government

Student union Proodeftiki has called on the government to facilitate students’ return to Cyprus from the UK after a “student travel window” was announced by the British government.

Students in England will be given between December 3 and 9 to travel home before Christmas, with mass testing carried out on campus before they are allowed to leave. Those testing positive would need to remain in self-isolation for 10 days.

Proodefthiki called on the transport ministry to take the necessary steps to make sure airlines schedule flights from the UK to Cyprus during those crucial days.

“We expect a huge demand for airline tickets to Cyprus throughout that week, especially considering that most university courses in the UK are now held online, meaning students can follow them from home,” it said.

“In the event that airlines are unable to schedule a sufficient number of flights within the set dates, it will be the ministry of transport’s responsibility to arrange additional flights, so that no student is left behind.”

At the same time, Proodeftiki called on airlines not to take advantage of the situation by raising the price of tickets.

“It is paramount for the government to act now and start planning the students’ return home during that window, in order to avoid having to act late,” the union concluded.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.