Private jet full of super-rich holidaymakers turned away from French airport

Private jet full of super-rich holidaymakers is sent back to London after the group landed in France and tried to get to their villa by helicopter during coronavirus lockdown

  • Seven men in their 40s & 50s and three women in their 20s landed in Marseille    
  • Their three helicopters waiting to take them to Cannes were forced to leave  
  • The pilots of the choppers were fined by police for breaking lockdown 
  •  Do YOU know the group? Please get in touch at ryan.fahey@mailonline.co.uk 

A private jet full of super-rich holidaymakers from London has been sent back to the UK after the group landed in France and tried to get to their Cannes villa by helicopter during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Seven men in their 40s and 50s and three women in their 20s arrived at Marseille-Provence airport last Saturday and were immediately intercepted by local police.

The organiser of the trip – a Croatian national working in banking and estate agency in the UK – had booked the jet and helicopters to take everybody to the rented villa.

A police source told the BFM news outlet: ‘They had planned to come and have a good time on the Riviera despite the Coronavirus epidemic.

‘Everything had been planned by the organiser of the trip – a Croatian national who works in finance and real estate – starting with the London-Marseille trip in a private jet that he had rented on the other side of the Channel.

An undated photograph shows the cityscape view of the French Riviera with yachts in Cannes. The group of super-wealthy holidaymakers had three helicopters booked to whisk them away to the city 

‘He then booked a luxury villa in Cannes. To get there, the man had reserved three helicopters from a company in the Var which provides private connections for privileged customers.’

Commercial flights are greatly reduced at airports across Europe at the moment, and the authorities are trying to stop private jets breaking restrictions.

The source reported that police guarding the ‘borders of Marseille-Provence airport asked the private jet not to come and land on its tarmac.’

This handout picture released on March 18, 2020 by the French Army shows a soldier standing on the tarmac at Marseille Airport. The source reported that police guarding the ¿borders of Marseille-Provence airport asked the private jet not to come and land on its tarmac¿

This handout picture released on March 18, 2020 by the French Army shows a soldier standing on the tarmac at Marseille Airport. The source reported that police guarding the ‘borders of Marseille-Provence airport asked the private jet not to come and land on its tarmac’

But the plane still landed anyway, and the passengers, aged between between 24 and 27 years for the women, and 40 and 50 for the men, were not allowed to get off the aircraft.

‘Controlled by the border police and the gendarmerie of air transport, none had valid reasons for traveling,’ said the source. 

‘Crossing borders is only allowed with a legitimate or compelling reason,’ he added.

As well as Croatian, the ten travellers were German, French, Romanian and Ukrainian, said the source.

They initially argued with police, and expressed anger when three helicopters waiting for them were ordered to leave empty, and their pilots fined for breaking lockdown restrictions. 

Police check the self-certified not of a passerby justifying their outing in Strasbourg, eastern France, yesterday on day 24 of lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the pandemic, with only essential trips allowed that must be justified with a signed piece of paper

Police check the self-certified not of a passerby justifying their outing in Strasbourg, eastern France, yesterday on day 24 of lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the pandemic, with only essential trips allowed that must be justified with a signed piece of paper

Nine members of the holiday party returned to London by the private jet on Saturday evening, while the tenth went back to Germany.

France’s coronavirus death toll rose to 12,210 on Thursday, and there are now 7,062 people in intensive care units at hospitals across the country.

France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the pandemic, with only essential trips allowed that must be justified with a signed piece of paper.

Health director Jérôme Salomon said the lockdown was working: ‘Thanks to these measures, we are in the process of putting the brakes on the epidemic.’

The lockdown, which was supposed to run until April 15, will be extended beyond that date, it was announced on Wednesday.

President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the coronavirus situation in a live TV address to the nation on Monday.

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