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Getting on a plane is a distant dream for the majority of us in lockdown. However, a new report by the Sunday Times has revealed the world's wealthiest are still flying to and from the UK on private jets during the COVID-19 lockdown, with 1,312 flights having taken place since stay at home measures were introduced.

The government has called for people to rule out “non-essential travel”, which according to its travel guidelines includes “visits to second homes, camp sites, caravan parks or similar - whether for isolation purposes or holidays.”

In the case of the 1,312 flights, 545 of them were flights arriving in the UK from coronavirus hotspots such as Spain, France and the United States.

A source told the Times, “These are some of the wealthiest people who count the UK as their home, who are fleeing to second homes since the lockdown was imposed.”

Despite places such as Hong Kong and South Korea testing arrivals to the country for coronavirus at the airport, and others such as the United States banning incoming travellers from non-residents, the UK has not introduced stricter travel restrictions to curb imported cases of COVID-19.

Speaking to the Times, Professor Gabriel Scally at the Royal Society of Medicine called it “hard to understand” the UK’s “most peculiar” approach.

According to aviation consultancy WingX, the most private flights landing in the UK were from Germany (32), with France (27) and Spain (25) trailing behind. 15 had also come from the US.

As for the 767 flights leaving the UK, the majority were headed to France and Germany (34 planes each), 30 to Spain, 23 to Russia and 10 to the UAE - a flight which is estimated to cost as much as £100,000.

Speaking to the Times, Air Charter Service chief executive Justin Bowman defended a number of the private jet flights. He said, “Governments are facing huge challenges moving people from different parts of the world back to the UK, where they are stranded.”

“The airlines stopped pretty much overnight. There are still thousands of people in the wrong place. Many of these flights will be legitimate repatriations from around the world. I would hope those abusing the rules are in the minority.”

Clive Jackson, founder of private jet firm Victor also added, “We have an obligation not to flout the rules as we have an essential part to play in the Covid crisis, providing genuine medical evacuation and repatriation for families in distress.”

According to Bloomberg, Victor was queried by a film studio to fly ‘50 people to Los Angeles from Tokyo to limit interaction with other travellers.’

In March, Adam Twidell of Private Fly (a private jet hire service) said that there had been a “rise in demand for short notice on-demand charter relating to the coronavirus.” Speaking to the Evening Standard, the CEO said it was "very busy indeed" and added that there was a 50-60% increase since last March - though the increased demand plus stringent travel restrictions was making it "more challenging to source aircraft in some cases."

With enquiries coming from both corporations eager to get their staff out of coronavirus hotspots and individuals, he told The Guardian, “We are now seeing clients looking to take a private flight between a variety of global destinations, to avoid exposure to crowds in [commercial] cabins and airport terminals.”

“In many cases, these are passengers who don’t usually fly by private aviation but are looking to protect themselves, their families and employees,” he continued.

The private aviation industry has faced controversy prior to the outbreak, with Labour expressing its intention last year to ban private jets from UK airports by 2025 due to their mammoth carbon footprint.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast

According to a study by Common Wealth, the typical private jet traveller within Europe emits ten times as much greenhouse gas as an economy class passenger and 150 times more than a passenger on high-speed rail.