A British traveller who organised a flight for his family and about 100 others stuck in Cambodia has criticised the government’s sluggish response and warned that travellers risk being stranded abroad with no funds after spending thousands on cancelled flights. Jerry Lewis, a teacher who was travelling in Cambodia with his family, became so disillusioned with the British embassy’s failure to help tourists that he contacted the chief operating officer of Malaysia Airlines to inquire about arranging a flight home. When the airline initially confirmed that it would send a plane, Lewis contacted the British embassy in Phnom Penh hoping that staff there would oversee the plan. He received only a standard email response and resorted to coordinating the flight with his wife, Karen Lewis.
After contacting other stranded travellers through a Facebook group, they managed to bring 103 people back to Heathrow on 28 March. Tickets, which cost about £1,000, were offered on a first-come-first-served basis. About 250 tourists, including young backpackers and retirees, are understood to remain stuck in Cambodia, while tens of thousands more Britons are still scattered around the world. Last week, the government pledged £75m to charter special flights to “priority countries”, and provide affordable seats on commercial airlines. Planes have been chartered to Peru, India, South Africa and Nepal, but many travellers stuck in countries where commercial airlines are still operating are yet to benefit. In Cambodia, the British embassy has continued to advise people to book commercial flights over the past week, even though these cost thousands of pounds and have repeatedly been cancelled, with passengers unable to secure quick refunds. On Tuesday the British embassy began surveying interest for a commercial flight leaving on 13 April, though officials say it will only go ahead if it is commercially viable. There is a possibility of financial support, travellers were told, but the details are unclear. Lewis questioned why he and his wife, private citizens, had been able to organise a flight more quickly than embassy staff for roughly the same price. “I’ve watched the French, the Germans, the Swiss getting repatriated and I see British people still stuck there and being told to book commercial flights – the same advice – when they’ve already booked two, three, four, five, some even six commercial flights and they’ve lost all their money,” said Lewis.
He fears some people won’t be able to afford the embassy flight because they are still awaiting refunds. In total, it has cost his family of five about £11,000 to get home. While the number of coronavirus cases recorded in Cambodia was low and travellers were safe, the global crisis was moving rapidly, he added, and it was possible the situation there might change. “The government might have a state of emergency, they could make any rule – they could shut shops, shut hotels, stop all flights. It’s the anxiety, the not knowing,” he said. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Our consular teams are doing everything they can, especially for those in difficulty, to keep Brits informed on the latest developments and help them return – on commercial flights where they are still available or special charter flights as well. We’ll continue working around the clock to bring people home.”