Watch live as Grant Shapps announces green list countries
Travel firms are urging the government to expand the number of countries on its green list for quarantine-free travel. Just 12 destinations are on the list and not all of them are accepting international visitors.
Among the countries it will be possible to travel to from 17 May is Portugal, to which holiday bookings “surged” after the government’s announcement, according to Thomas Cook. A representative for the airline said that although they experienced a sudden uptick in bookings, numbers are still down on where they’d ordinarily be around this time of year.
Trade group Airlines UK said that the government must make “major additions” to the green list in coming weeks. Chief executive Tim Alderslade said: “This is a missed opportunity and, with so few countries making it on to the green list, represents a reopening of air travel in name only.”
EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren said that the lack of European destinations on the list is “not justified by the data or the science”, while British Airways boss Sean…
