Airlines gave their biggest hint yet that Portugal and Malta could be among the countries where British tourists can visit in less than a fortnight’s time without quarantining as they began adding flights to both destinations.
British Airways today added another departure to Faro for holidaymakers hoping to visit the Algarve on May 17 with one-way tickets initially priced at £130, hours after two flights sold out with economy fares hitting £530.
Airlines are also known to be planning extra flights for UK tourists to Portugal and Malta, according to Independent travel editor Simon Calder – while travel experts think Gibraltar, Iceland and Israel could also be on the ‘green list’.
A big reveal on travelling abroad is expected in a Downing Street press conference led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps at 5pm, at which he is expected to confirm that the international travel ban will end on May 1.
Flights to Portuguese resorts have more than doubled in price for May 17 following suggestions the European holiday hotspot may be among a ‘handful’ of destinations to immediately offer quarantine-free travel. But most of Europe – including France, Spain, Greece and Italy – is expected to be ‘amber’ in a blow to eager travellers.
Travel experts said today that Malta, Gibraltar, Portugal and Israel are among the countries which eager travellers should book before 5pm, but note that they will have to pay for Covid-19 tests if they have not received both jabs.
Ministers are meeting this morning to sign off the ‘traffic light’ allocations. A Government source told MailOnline that Portugal would ‘probably’ be on the ‘green list’ – but along with only a ‘tiny’ number of other destinations.
They suggested it is unlikely that lower-infection islands will be split off from mainlands in the initial allocations, although this could happen by June.
Holidaymakers to ‘green list’ countries will not have to quarantine on their return, but will still be required to take two tests, one within three days of flying back to the UK and another within 48 hours of arrival. This will apply to vaccinated as well as unvaccinated passengers.
Tourists from amber countries will have to take a second post-arrival test on day eight as well as self-isolate at home for ten days. Arrivals from red countries will have to quarantine in hotels at their own expense for 11 nights.
Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency travel consultancy, told MailOnline today: ‘There will be higher prices as demand goes up – with fewer flights, consumers are battling for fewer seats to destinations as they open up on the green list.
‘While it’s tempting to get away as soon as possible, especially to see family or fiancees, I’d be booking for mainland Europe, Turkey, USA for end of June onwards. They are likely to be added in the next wave of green list countries opened up.
‘For those who simply can’t wait, then the likes of Malta, Gibraltar, Portugal, Israel will be the ones to book before 5pm. But bear in mind you will face extra costs for testing if you haven’t been fully jabbed.’
Experts also expect there to be a flurry of strange pricing in the 24 to 48 hours after the announcement, because automatic algorithms will kick in if there is a surge in demand, before the prices are levelled out again.
Among the countries tipped to make the first ‘green list’ are Malta, Iceland, Israel, Gibraltar and possibly Portugal. Pictured: Tel Aviv in Israel
Asked about by how much prices could rise, Mr Charles said it ‘depends on the routes and airlines’, adding: ‘But prices surge when the demand rockets and the airlines’ automatic revenue management systems kick in.
‘You can see prices double in some cases for the few remaining seats, but there are still many, many bargains out there.’
It is hoped many countries could turn green by the end of June as the traffic light system is reviewed.
Gavin Harris, Skyscanner’s commercial director, told MailOnline today: ‘Travel fares always fluctuate following any major announcement on travel, and that’s true for pre-pandemic times too, for instance if a new route opens up.
‘What happens is that there is a short period of time – usually a day or so – for pricing to adjust to new demand levels, and then they usually return to close to what they were before the announcement.
‘At the moment, prices are generally very low compared to the last ‘normal’ year for travel which was 2019, so any temporary rises in price are likely still good deals.
‘What we expect to see is that travel providers will be move capacity to serve the popular routes and compete for bookings with continued low prices and perks for travellers.’
Among the bargains still available are: Luton to Tel Aviv for £111 with Wizz Air on July 6 to 13; Luton to Madeira for £81 with Wizz Air on May 22 to 29; Stansted to Valetta for £50 with Ryanair on July 13 to 20; and Luton to Gibraltar for £61 with Wizz Air on July 9 to 16.
And the UK’s largest holiday firm insisted prices for summer breaks have not been ramped up ahead of the Government’s announcement of the green travel list,
Tui’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, Andrew Flintham, said it will be ‘a long time’ before travel companies can consider boosting profit margins.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘Our prices are very, very stable. They’re pretty much like for like, flat, year over year. There isn’t a big increase in there.
‘We’ve got plenty of holidays to sell. I think everybody in the industry has.
‘It’ll be a long time before the idea of trying to increase prices to make more money. We want to get people away on holiday, having a great time, because we think they genuinely all deserve it.’
The initial ‘green list’ – understood to contain less than a dozen destinations – will be finalised by Cabinet ministers this morning before being unveiled at a Downing Street briefing led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
But despite insiders warning there will be a ‘very small’ number of countries subject to the loosest rules when the ban on non-essential travel lifts, demand for flights to possible ‘green list’ nations has surged.
British Airways is charging £530 for a flight from Heathrow to the Algarve, Portugal, on May 17, compared to £234 for passengers flying the same route two days earlier.
A Ryanair flight from Stansted to Portugal’s capital Lisbon on the day overseas leisure travel restarts is £152, compared with £15 on May 16. EasyJet is charging £234 for a flight from Luton to the Algarve on May 17, but just £73 the following day.
Airlines increase prices in line with demand, indicating that many holidaymakers are hoping Portugal is categorised as a low-risk destination for coronavirus.
England will adopt its traffic light system when the travel ban lifts on May 17, with destinations placed on green, amber and red lists depending on the perceived threat of Covid infection from abroad.
The ‘green list’ – deemed the most low risk – has been drawn up based on data about the global Covid picture from advisory body The Joint Biosecurity Centre.
But holidaymakers returning from these countries will still be required to take two tests, one within three days of flying back to the UK and another within 48 hours of arrival. This will apply to vaccinated as well as unvaccinated passengers.
People walk outside St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, as Malta may be one of the countries added to the ‘green list’ today
The list will be finalised by Cabinet ministers this morning before being unveiled at a Downing Street briefing in the afternoon led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. Pictured: Gibraltar
People walk past the shop window of a Tui store in Eastleigh, Hampshire, today ahead of tonight’s ‘green list’ announcement
A person browses a web page for summer holidays to Portugal on the Tui website today ahead of the announcement later
Holidaymakers from amber countries will have to take a second post-arrival test on day eight as well as self-isolate at home for ten days.
Arrivals from red countries will have to quarantine in hotels at their own expense for 11 nights.
Assessments will be based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a country’s population that has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants, and the country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.
There is speculation the ‘green list’ may feature destinations such as Malta, Gibraltar and Israel, while the Maldives, the Seychelles and several Caribbean islands look set to miss out.
Portugal has been ‘borderline’ for most of the week but Downing Street insiders were last night confident it will be included, the Times reported. Whitehall sources say the green list could also contain several ‘obscure places that people won’t realistically visit’.
Most of Europe – including including France, Spain, Greece and Italy – is expected to be ‘amber’.
However, it is hoped many popular holiday destinations will be added to the ‘green list’ by the end of June as the traffic light list is reviewed. One source said ‘things are going in the right direction’ for this to happen.
No plans for the resumption of foreign holidays have been announced by the UK’s devolved administrations.
The Prime Minister has been under pressure to accelerate the resumption of foreign travel due to the success of Britain’s vaccination programme, with more than half of the UK’s population now inoculated.
Former ministers yesterday urged Mr Johnson to ensure ‘as many holiday destinations as possible’ are placed on the initial ‘green list.’
David Jones, the former Secretary of State for Wales, said: ‘Aviation and the travel industry are major elements of the country’s economy and should be supported by speeding up the lifting of travel restrictions.
‘The government should also — consistent with safety — ensure that as many holiday destinations as possible are put on the green list. British people are keen travellers and the time has come to restore their freedom.’
Ex-transport minister Theresa Villiers added: ‘The green list needs to be based on a rigorous scrutiny of the evidence to ensure we don’t jeopardise the huge success of the vaccination programme.
‘But as popular holiday destinations see case numbers falling, there should be some headroom to start to safely lift travel restrictions.’
Tourists sunbathing in Praia do Camilo, Lagos, Faro district, Algarve, Portugal
Mr Shapps is expected to reveal the long-awaited traffic light system for travel tomorrow
Meanwhile a tourism spokesman for Grenada, and its sister islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, said they have already fully vaccinated 70 per cent of hotel workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
All arriving passengers must have a negative PCR test taken up to 72 hours before arrival and are again tested on arrival, with results given within 48 hours.
Since May 1, assuming a negative test, fully-vaccinated visitors only have to be monitored at their hotel and their health assessed for 48 hours after arrival.
Barry Collymore, chairman of the Grenada Tourism Authority, said: ‘We are focused on continuing to build strong immunity to Covid-19 among our people.
‘It is a testament to the commitment of the industry that the vast majority of those working in the travel and tourism sector have already been vaccinated and we have seen that pace continue across Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
‘We look forward to welcoming back our old friends and new ones.’
Earlier this week, Mr Johnson warned that putting lots of countries on the travel ‘green list’ from May 17 could risk a jump in cases from abroad.
The Prime Minister has maintained Downing Street will be ‘cautious’, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock and chief medical officer Chris Whitty said to be among those pushing for quarantine-free states to be kept to a minimum.
‘We do want to do some opening up on May 17 but I don’t think that the people of this country want to see an influx of disease from anywhere else,’ Mr Johnson said on Monday.
‘I certainly don’t and we have got to be very, very tough, and we have got to be as cautious as we can, whilst we continue to open up.’
Mr Johnson’s comments were met with scrutiny by travel experts, who claimed there is ‘no danger of an influx of disease’ into Britain considering the proposed precautions.
Mr Charles told MailOnline: ‘The reason why testing has to be done by every passenger pre-departure to the UK, and after arriving here, is to help weed out any infections or variants. There have been very few cases or variants in recent weeks since these measures were put in place.
The Prime Minister has been under pressure to accelerate the resumption of foreign travel due to the success of Britain’s vaccination programme. Pictured: Boris Johnson on Monday
Former ministers yesterday urged Mr Johnson to ensure ‘as many holiday destinations as possible’ are placed on the initial ‘green list’
‘The Prime Minister needs to focus on protecting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk in the travel and tourism sector, and open up overseas travel safely, and progressively, from May 17. ‘
Meanwhile, Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel Association, called on destinations used by business travellers not to be overlooked.
He said: ‘The BTA is watching closely for the green and amber traffic light countries.
‘Whilst we all look forward to a holiday, it’s vital for the UK economy that business travel destinations are included on the green list as soon as it is safe to do so.’
Earlier this week a shift in Government travel advice gave an apparent a hint of what destinations could be on the upcoming ‘green list.’
Tourists visiting a number of popular summer hotspots do not face a level of risk for coronavirus that is ‘unacceptably high’, according to the latest updates from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The FCDO is not advising against non-essential travel to Portugal (excluding the Azores), Spain’s Canary Islands or the Greek islands of Rhodes, Kos, Zante, Corfu and Crete.
There is no guarantee that the ‘green list’ will match the FCDO’s travel advice, but the latter indicates the Government’s current evaluation of the risks to tourists.
Meanwhile Tui, the UK’s largest holiday company, announced it will offer customers coronavirus tests for a fraction of standard prices.
The cheapest package – aimed at people returning from green destinations – will be available for just £20, and consist of a lateral flow test and PCR test.
PCR tests alone typically cost £120 each, although several travel companies offer them for £60.
Tui said it is ‘subsidising the cost of testing to help customers travel again this summer’.
There are fears that testing requirements will make summer holidays unaffordable for many families by adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of a trip.
Rory Boland, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said the announcement of £20 packages is ‘great news – but only for Tui customers’.
He urged the Government to ‘reduce the cost of testing across the board, rather than have consumers rely on a system that is currently fragmented and flawed’.
British Airways owner calls on Government to be ‘ambitious’ on travel corridors
Luis Gallego, the boss of British Airways owner IAG
The UK Government must act with ambition and announce travel corridors as soon as possible to help the travel industry revive, according to the boss of British Airways owner IAG.
Chief executive Luis Gallego added: ‘We consider now is the time to start travelling again.
‘We believe that the Government needs to be a bit ambitious in getting global travel back on track and bring the benefits of all the efforts that the Government and people have done with the vaccination rollout.
‘I think they need to recognise that people who are vaccinated or have been tested can travel without restrictions.’
His comments come as the business revealed it continued to rack up huge losses in the first three months of the year.
Bosses at the airline, which also owns Aer Lingus and Iberia, said the firm sunk to a pre-tax loss of 1.22 billion euros (£1.1 billion) in the first three months of the year.
Passenger numbers remain at record low levels due to the pandemic, at just 19.6% of the pre-Covid levels in 2019 and the second quarter of the year is at just 25% due to continued uncertainty.
IAG remains financially stable, bosses added, with a new 1.2 billion euro (£1 billion) bond heavily oversubscribed and a new three year 1.76 billion dollar (£1.27 billion) credit facility agreed with lenders but future cash raises could be needed.
Cargo-only flights increased from 969 in the final quarter of 2020 to 1,306 in the first three months of the year.
Mr Gallego added: ‘We’re ready to fly, but Government action is needed through four key measures:
‘Travel corridors without restrictions between countries with successful vaccination rollouts and effective testing such us the UK and the US.
‘Affordable, simple and proportionate testing to replace quarantine and costly, multi-layered testing.
‘Well-staffed borders using contactless technology including e-gates to ensure a safe, smooth flow of people and frictionless travel.
‘Digital passes for testing and vaccination documentation to facilitate international travel.’
Current Covid rules in England say that non-essential travel can resume on May 17 and an announcement on international travel is expected within days.
Race to book ‘green list’ getaways before 5pm today! Britons scramble to snap up overseas holidays to Israel, Portugal and Malta for as little as £50 before ministers announce travel list today
Britons hoping for a cheap foreign summer holiday can still grab a cheap flight ahead of the Government announcing tonight where holidaymakers can visit this summer without quarantining, research has found.
Malta, Gibraltar, Portugal and Israel are all expected to be on the list of ‘green list’ countries when it is revealed at 5pm today – and return flights to the countries over the next few months are still available for as little as £50 each.
Among the bargains still available are a flight from London Luton to Tel Aviv in Israel for £111 with Wizz Air on July 6 to 13, while Luton to Madeira in Portugal with the same airline is available for £81 on May 22 to 29.
Skyscanner research for MailOnline also found that Britons can book a flight from London Stansted to Valetta in Malta for £50 with Ryanair on July 13 to 20, while Luton to Gibraltar is available for £61 with Wizz Air on July 9 to 16.
But other air fares to Portugal have already started to soar as airlines respond to high demand – and there are fears over a huge jump in prices over the next few days as Britons start to think about going abroad on holidays.
It comes as the UK’s largest holiday firm insisted prices for summer breaks have not been ramped up ahead of the Government’s announcement of the travel list, which will be made by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Among the bargains still available are a flight from London Luton to Tel Aviv in Israel for £111 with Wizz Air on July 6 to 13
A flight from London Luton to Madeira in Portugal with Wizz Air is available for £81 on May 22 to 29
Britons can book a flight from London Stansted to Valetta in Malta for £50 with Ryanair on July 13 to 20, Skyscanner said
Skyscanner research found that a flight from London Luton to Gibraltar is available for £61 with Wizz Air on July 9 to 16
Tui’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, Andrew Flintham, said it will be ‘a long time’ before travel companies can consider boosting profit margins. He told BBC Breakfast: ‘Our prices are very, very stable.
‘They’re pretty much like for like, flat, year over year. There isn’t a big increase in there. We’ve got plenty of holidays to sell. I think everybody in the industry has.
‘It’ll be a long time before the idea of trying to increase prices to make more money. We want to get people away on holiday, having a great time, because we think they genuinely all deserve it.’
Travel experts expect there to be a flurry of strange flight pricing in the 24 to 48 hours after the announcement, because automatic algorithms will kick in if there is a surge in demand, before the prices are levelled out again.
And Skyscanner’s commercial director Gavin Harris told MailOnline: ‘Travel fares always fluctuate following any major announcement on travel, and that’s true for pre-pandemic times too, for instance if a new route opens up.
‘What happens is that there is a short period of time – usually a day or so – for pricing to adjust to new demand levels, and then they usually return to close to what they were before the announcement.
‘At the moment, prices are generally very low compared to the last ‘normal’ year for travel which was 2019, so any temporary rises in price are likely still good deals.
‘What we expect to see is that travel providers will be move capacity to serve the popular routes and compete for bookings with continued low prices and perks for travellers.’