Last checked at 
* Several countries ban or restrict flights from UK
* Concerns over spread of new coronavirus strain
* Airlines call for testing rather than travel bans
(Adds shares, detail)
By Tim Hepher
PARIS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Europe faces significant
disruption to air transport as a growing number of countries
bans flights from Britain due to fears over a new coronavirus
strain, prompting airlines to repeat calls for more testing to
keep borders open.
Eurocontrol Director General Eamonn Brennan said there had
been 900 daily flights between Britain and the 27 countries of
the European Union between Monday and Saturday last week.
"We’ll see a significant impact on the network as a result
of the new (coronavirus) variant in the UK," the head of the
pan-European air traffic control agency wrote on Twitter.
Already reeling from the loss of some six million flights
since March due to the pandemic, airlines faced a flood of
overnight restrictions echoing the sudden impact of ash from an
Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010, albeit on reduced traffic
levels.
"The measures came in at extremely short notice," an airline
industry official told Reuters.
Shares in European airlines fell sharply, led by UK-based
carriers easyJet, down almost 10%, and British Airways
owner IAG, down 9%.
As EU officials met to try to forge a coordinated response,
airlines issued a fresh appeal to step up testing regimes in
order to keep borders open.
"Governments must cooperate to put mutually recognized
testing capacity in place so that borders can remain open to the
vast majority of healthy passengers," the International Air
Transport Association (IATA) said.
IATA, which represents most major airlines, said the World
Health Organization had adopted a mantra of "test, test and test
again" and added: "We implore governments to act on this
advice".
MIXED RESTRICTIONS
Under initial restrictions, which came into force on Monday,
carriers faced a mixed bag of conditions.
Italy and Germany exempted cargo and medical flights from
their bans on flights from the United Kingdom, which has said a
new, more easily transmissible variant of the coronavirus is
spreading rapidly.
Romania also exempted mail flights, but it was not
immediately clear to what extent postal services would be hit
elsewhere.
Germany's Deutsche Post said earlier it was halting all
deliveries of parcels to Britain.
France, Latvia and Bulgaria banned all flights from Britain
with no apparent exemptions, according to notices to pilots.
Britain expressed surprised at the inclusion of freight.
Airlines operating in London Heathrow, meanwhile, were
warned to ensure passengers do not become stranded in Britain
and "can be appropriately routed to the final destination".
The Netherlands said in an industry bulletin that Dutch
carriers and Britain's easyJet would be able to repatriate
aircraft and crew "in order to get these planes out of the
United Kingdom".
Long-haul travel was also affected, though traffic on those
routes is already the worst hit from the slump in air travel
demand caused by the pandemic.
Hong Kong said it would ban all flights arriving from the
United Kingdom from midnight, in the first such move in Asia.
Canada said on Sunday it would halt passenger flights from
the United Kingdom for 72 hours.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark
Potter)
