MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - The final flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland are set to arrive at Miami International Airport after President Donald Trump announced the European travel ban will extend to those two countries.
Airport officials said flights from Europe are down by about 50%, as the travel restrictions are set to go into effect at midnight, Monday.
“So, tonight the travel restrictions that previously included 26 countries in Europe now also includes the UK and Ireland, so from those countries, only U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents can be on those flights,” MIA spokesperson Greg Chin said.
7News cameras captured several travelers wearing masks and gloves to protect themselves from COVID-19 at MIA. The airport is one of 13 airports in the U.S. still accepting flights from Europe.
For the next 30 days, foreign travelers will not be allowed to fly into the country, but Americans can come home, and when they arrive, they will be screened.
“They’ll get a list of questions regarding their health, a few questions about how they’re feeling that day, if they’re feeling like they have a fever, that kind of thing,” Chin said. “They’ll be greeted when they get off the flight from Europe, and they may get a random temperature check.”
The big boards at the airport could be seen colored with cancelled flights from Europe, and this comes as American Airlines announced that they are cutting international flights from the U.S. by 75%.
Jessica Woolley and her fiance breathed a sigh of relief after their flight landed at MIA hours before the expanded travel ban went into effect.
“I just came here on my visa,” she said. “I was meant to move in May, but I booked this flight at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Obviously, it was last minute, bit of a panic, wasn’t cheap, but yeah, you’ve got to do it, I suppose. Otherwise, my visa would have expired.”
“It’s tough, but there’s no other way to do it,” one traveler said.
“The safety is very important,” a second traveler said.
Although the flights from Europe to MIA are down by about half, officials said that’s not necessarily bad news for Americans flying home.
“So far, it’s been very smooth,” Chin said. “We haven’t seen the long lines that are being seen at other airports because of the decrease in traffic from other countries and in other airports.”
“There’s not many people there,” Woolley said. “It’s much quicker than I’ve had before when I’ve come through, and the flight, there was only 70 people on it.”
“I was expecting a massive crowd with a jammed up amount of people, and basically what was great is that they kept us on the flight, cool air conditioning, kept us all calm,” Peter Wiesner said. “We were probably delayed 35-40 minutes on the plane, and then, they released us.”
Officials recommend those with travel plans, no matter where they are flying, to check with their airline before arriving at the airport.
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