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French Police Turn Away Jet of Wealthy International Vacationers Trying to Escape Virus

A Croatian national who organized the trip told French authorities he had “a lot of money” and was hoping to “just pay a fine and go to Cannes.”

A private jet carrying nearly a dozen wealthy international vacationers who were apparently trying to escape the coronavirus pandemic landed in the south of France but was promptly turned away. CNN reports that a Croation national who organized the trip told French authorities he had “a lot of money” and was hoping to “just pay a fine and go to Cannes.” Seven men between the ages of 40 and 50 were on board the jet, along with three women described as “about 25,” according to CNN. France has implemented a nationwide lockdown and foreigners are only allowed in if they can prove they have an essential reason to enter. The group of 10 passengers—including Croatian, French, German, Romanian and Ukrainian nationals—arrived from London last Saturday. But the Marseille Provence Airport, where they were scheduled to land, tipped off border police to the situation. Only the three French nationals on board were told they could enter, though they wound up returning to London with the rest of the group, with the exception of a Ukrainian national who rented a plane to Berlin.