Is TravelDoc reliable? Can I transit in Amsterdam en route London-Moscow?

aroominyork

I am booked to fly from London via Amsterdam to Moscow next week. KLM sent me a checklist email which included a link to TravelDoc which says passengers on tourist visas can only fly direct - no transit allowed. Panic! I called KLM - systems down... they cannot help but she thought you cannot go via Amsterdam. I phoned the Russian embassy who were very helpful and said the rules changed on 28 October, it would be fine and pointed me to this www.rusemb.org.uk/consnews/183. However it has a caveat that "However, taking into account that different airlines and transit countries may have their own rules, our advice is to check the transit flight in advance in order not to have an unpleasant surprise during check-in in London", which I would do if KLM could help me! Does anyone know the situation?

Caz3121

have a look at Emirates Timatic (does not matter you are not flying with them)
https://www.emirates.com/english/before-you-fly/visa-passport-information/visa-passport-information-results/?widgetheader=visa&nationality=gb&destination=ru&transit=nl

CKhalvashi

On Government.ru (link here) the only latest information is as follows:

• Роспотребнадзору совместно с Минтрансом организовать экспресс-тестирование на новую коронавирусную инфекцию граждан России, прибывающих из Республики Ботсвана, Южно-Африканской Республики, Королевства Лесото, Республики Намибия, Республики Зимбабве, Республики Мозамбик, Республики Мадагаскар, Королевства Эсватини, Объединённой Республики Танзания, Специального административного района Гонконг, Китайской Народной Республики, Государства Израиль, Соединённого Королевства Великобритании и Северной Ирландии, и иностранных граждан, прибывающих из Китайской Народной Республики, Государства Израиль, Соединённого Королевства Великобритании и Северной Ирландии. Также обеспечить контроль за соблюдением санитарно-эпидемиологических требований указанными лицами;

I'll assume you don't speak Russian, so will translate as follows:

Russian Border Guard service, together with the Ministry of Transport, organize express testing for a new coronavirus infection of Russian citizens arriving from Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, the Eswatini, Tanzania, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, Israel, UK, and foreign nationals arriving from the People's Republic of China, Israel and UK and also ensure control over compliance with sanitary and epidemiological requirements by the specified people.

There is nothing specified banning transit travel in these regulations (and the Netherlands is a designated transit country for UK citizens).

Gov.uk contains similar information (link here) and normally is up to date.

foden11

I don't know if rules have changed but my wife flew on 24/09/21 to Rostov on don from heathrow  via Istanbul with Turkish airlines and had problems at London as she had to prove she had family in Russia as they were only allowing entry to Russian nationals,workers and family members (she was Ukraine national returning to Ukraine)   

CKhalvashi

foden11 said:

I don't know if rules have changed but my wife flew on 24/09/21 to Rostov on don from heathrow  via Istanbul with Turkish airlines and had problems at London as she had to prove she had family in Russia as they were only allowing entry to Russian nationals,workers and family members (she was Ukraine national returning to Ukraine)   

That is because Ukrainian nationals are not on the allowed entry list without meeting exemption criteria.

This is not the case for UK nationals who hold an automatic exemption on the basis of nationality and therefore have separate entry requirements due to the pandemic.

foden11

Ok thanks she was using her Ukraine passport not English one

Butts

foden11 said:

Ok thanks she was using her Ukraine passport not English one

Since when was there an English Passport ?

aroominyork

Just to close this thread: KLM have a WhatsApp service. I asked the question and they eventually replied that they follow countries' entry policies. Great, I thought, I am all set.

Arrive at Heathrow, go to check-in at KLM desk. "Sorry, you cannot transit in Amsterdam to go to Moscow." I explain the situation, she goes to discuss it with her manager, comes back and says it is OK. Talk about right hands not knowing what left hands are doing...

CKhalvashi

aroominyork said:

Just to close this thread: KLM have a WhatsApp service. I asked the question and they eventually replied that they follow countries' entry policies. Great, I thought, I am all set.

Arrive at Heathrow, go to check-in at KLM desk. "Sorry, you cannot transit in Amsterdam to go to Moscow." I explain the situation, she goes to discuss it with her manager, comes back and says it is OK. Talk about right hands not knowing what left hands are doing...

I'm surprised that for such a standard request the answer wouldn't be known by the agent, especially as links between the UK and Russia are currently not operating anywhere near capacity so it makes sense to route via a Skyteam hub in this case, but glad you made it to Russia.