Flying during COVID-19: I’ve been somewhat stranded in Turkey for the last 2+ months, and on Friday I finally flew back to London. Here’s what the experience was like. THREAD

Direct flights between Istanbul and London ended in March, but there were a handful of (commercial) repatriation flights back (with a $700 price tag), as well as a few non-direct options.

The only route that didn’t require an overnight layover goes via Minsk on Belarus’ national airline, Belavia, twice a week. It leaves Istanbul at 4.55am (why?!). We were of course the only flight going.

I got to the airport four hours in advance, as I had read that this was the requirement elsewhere. No need because I basically sat around for four extra hours. At least half of the terminal was roped off, and employees must have outnumbered passengers by five to one.

Border agent desks, tourist information, duty free: so much was closed off, covered in plastic and mothballed.

Lots of signage about where to sit and stand as well as hand sanitizer stations. I think there might have been one temperature check (can’t fully remember – it was 4am), but no swabs. Masks were required in the airport and on the plane.

Which was all somewhat pointless because there was zero distancing on the plane. I don’t think there were any empty seats – it must have been a full flight or close to it.

Forgot to mention that there was one sandwich shop open in the Istanbul airport but nothing else. It looked like a few other shops and cafes might be open when it’s not 4am.

The highlight of the flight was the tank facts printed on the tray tables. Different tanks on different trays! (It’s some kind of advertising collaboration between the airline and a video games company. Some #avgeeks told me this plane is kind of a big deal?)

We land in Minsk after a couple of hours.

On the flight, we were given a form to fill out about where we are staying in Minsk, where we’ve been, whether we’ve come into contact with anyone with coronavirus... which doesn’t seem relevant since most of us are in transit and aren’t staying in Belarus.

Sure enough, at the immigration desk, they don’t want to see it.

The layover feels so normal. Minsk has a small airport, and again most of it is roped off, but one cafe and duty free are open. A group of Scottish blokes are having beers at 9am.

I crack open my breakfast box, which has a roll, jam and smoked meat and pickles.

After five hours, it’s our turn to go. A handful of other European flights left before us. The flight to London is more what I expected: a larger plane with only about 20 or so people.

We’re given another form to fill out on the flight. Temperature checks were taken before boarding, but no swabs.

I’m sure you can guess what was in the lunch box...