NEWS
The Algarve, Portugal; inset, Grant Shapps
Industry gets set for cautious restart ahead of ‘green’ list
Ian Taylor
Travel’s reopening was poised to pick up pace this week despite government caution, with the prime minister promising “some opening up on May 17” on Monday and the Foreign Office dropping advice against non-essential travel to some destinations. The government
was poised to identify destinations in the green, amber and red categories of its traffic light system as Travel Weekly went to press, with details expected by the end of the week. The May 17 restart is likely to
be limited, but the government is expected to review the destination categories every two or three weeks, suggesting the green list could expand from early or mid-June. The government also indicated it
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could give two weeks’ notice when countries risk losing ‘green’ category status. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government would “flag [this] perhaps a couple of weeks in advance”. Shapps revealed the government would also reconsider the requirement for PCR tests on arrivals from ‘green’ destinations at the first review of the system on June 28. An industry source noted
the restart “will be cautious”,
but said: “We’ve heard there will be reviews every one, two or three weeks. We’d hope for a review more often than three weeks, but one or two weeks wouldn’t be an issue. “How often they review is
different to how much warning we get of a change from green to amber. The government will move a country swiftly to red and make no apology for that. But we expect a better
The issue will be to
make this work. The industry is ready to go, but it’s a big job to go from nothing
regime for switching from green. “The issue will be to make this
work. The industry is ready to go, but it’s a big job to go from nothing. We don’t want it to be too cautious, but to open everything from day one would benefit no one.” In a promising sign, the Foreign
Office (FCDO) dropped advice against non-essential travel to mainland Portugal, Madeira, the Greek islands of Rhodes, Kos, Zakynthos, Corfu and Crete, the Canary Islands, Malta and Israel at the start of this week. But it remains unclear how far
FCDO advice will align with green- list countries. The source suggested: “FCDO assessments in-country and advice on returning to the UK are not the same thing. “We’re not confident they’ll be
the same, but we’re hopeful Foreign Office advice will be clearer and better presented [than last year].” Co-ordination with Scotland
and possibly Wales is not expected. The source said: “A common border policy should be an absolute priority, but we don’t have much hope at the moment. Politics will get in the way.” Dale Keller, chief executive of the
UK Board of Airline Representatives, forecast “a positive announcement” this week, but warned: “Let’s not get too excited – May 17 is the start of a long process. There are challenges. Some destinations will see a pick-up, but traffic will remain suppressed. It will take longer than anyone in the industry would like.”
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PICTURES: Shutterstock/DaLiu; Richard Townshend Photography
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