#Italy denies entry to private plane with Americans on holiday

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Passengers wearing face masks at Fiumicino Airport in Rome the day EU governments agreed upon a “safe list” of 14 countries allowing non-essential travel amid coronavirus.
Reuters

A planeload of rich Americans were denied entry to Italy after trying to sneak into the country for a holiday via private plane.

Travelers from the US are banned from entering the European Union for at least another two weeks following a spike in coronavirus cases in some reopened states, European officials announced last week.

There were 10 people on board, five of whom were American, when the plane which had flown in from Colorado stopped by customs officers at the Elmas Airport on Cagliari, Italy, according to reports. While the Americans were told they were to be “repatriated” immediately, the other passengers, hailing from Italy, New Zealand and England, were given the offer to stay — following a mandatory two-week quarantine. All of the passengers left “out of solidarity,” according to the site Wanted in Rome.

“The region of Sardinia has no responsibility for what happened,” Sardinia Gov. Christian Solinas told the news site. “Immediately, with the collaboration of the airport management company, we set to work — initiating urgent talks with the government, the Ministry and the Prefect — to find a solution that would allow American passengers to stay in Sardinia, even by submitting to quarantine. … The singular restrictive interpretation of the rules by the government, contrary to our ability to guarantee health security, in this case has again inflicted serious damage on the international tourism credibility of our island, and our sense of hospitality.”

This is not the first time wealthy people have tried to flout the rules. In April, a private planeload of international jet setters was sent home after flouting quarantine rules and secretly flying to the South of France for a holiday.