Airlines Lash out at UK Government over Travel Restrictions

Britain will confirm in early May whether it will allow international travel to resume from May 17 and which countries will fall into the red, amber or green categories in a traffic light system based on COVID-19 risks.

Airlines, desperate for a bumper summer after a year of restrictions, criticised proposals from the government's Global Travel Taskforce, which include COVID tests, saying the 100 pound cost of PCR testing for those arriving from low-risk green countries would put off many travellers.

Giving new details of how it hopes to allow people to travel this summer, the taskforce also said work was going on to develop a certification system, sometimes called "vaccine passports", for inbound and outbound travel.

Britain is gradually emerging from a strict winter lockdown prompted by a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths. As things stand, international travel is banned except under specific circumstances defined by the government.

But the government's proposals for restarting travel fell short of airline industry hopes.

"This does not represent a reopening of travel as promised by ministers," said Airlines UK, an industry body which represents British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and others

EasyJet, Britain's biggest airline by passenger numbers, said the PCR test requirement for low-risk countries was a blow to travellers and called on the government to re-assess its plan.

"This risks reversing the clock and making flying only for the wealthy," said easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren.

Case numbers in Britain have dropped dramatically since the January peak but a government priority is to avoid undermining the success of its vaccination programme by importing vaccine-resistant...