The UK's Civil Aviation Authority has successfully prosecuted Romanian budget airline Blue Air after the carrier committed a series of coronavirus protocol violations. These largely pertain to the country's passenger locator forms, which the airline wasn't ensuring that passengers had completed before their flights.

The first sentence of its kind

A hearing that took place yesterday at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court marked a small piece of aviation history. Specifically, this is the first instance in which an airline has been the subject of a prosecution as part of the UK's COVID Enforcement Regulations. These enforce carriers' responsibilities to check that passengers are complying with rules concerning air travel, such as completing pre-departure tests.

The offending airline in this instance was Blue Air, a low-cost carrier based in Bucharest. It pled guilty to six offenses under the new regulations yesterday, resulting in a £40,000 fine. Paul Smith, the CAA's Consumer Director, stated that:

"We welcome the Court’s decision to fine Blue Air Aviation over breaches of the COVID Enforcement Regulations. While we generally observe high levels of compliance from airlines against the regulations, it is important for consumer confidence and public health that failures to follow the requirements are dealt with appropriately."

The offenses in question

So what exactly did Blue Air do wrong to earn itself such a fine? A statement released by the CAA in conjunction with the prosecution confirmed that five of the six offenses concerned the airline's inability "to ensure that passengers arriving at Heathrow had completed the required Passenger Locator Form."

The passenger locator form, known in short as the PLF, is an obligation for any adult traveler arriving in the UK from abroad. For fully vaccinated arrivals, it is one of few remaining restrictions on air travel into the country, following the removal of day 2 testing for those that have received a pair of jabs against coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Blue Air's sixth and final offense pertains to an instance in which it failed "to ensure an arriving passenger had the required evidence showing that they had completed a pre-departure COVID test." Interestingly, while they represent the first prosecution under the new rules, these are not the first time that the Romanian low-cost carrier has found itself on the wrong side of the regulations.

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Blue Air in the UK

Indeed, the CAA notes that, in addition to the recent sentence, previous COVID violations have also resulted in Blue Air receiving fixed penalty notices. Curiously, the Romanian low-cost carrier reportedly made no effort to pay or resolve these. Simple Flying has reached out to Blue Air for comment on the situation.

The airline has a relatively strong presence in the UK, so it might be expected that it would want to keep itself in the CAA's good books. In addition to London Heathrow, it also serves Birmingham, Liverpool, and London Luton. Almost 350,000 Romanians live in the UK, and Blue Air's 737s provide a useful link between the countries.

What do you make of the CAA's prosecution of Blue Air? Have you flown with the Romanian low-cost carrier during the pandemic? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.