‘Green list’ must expand, say aviation bosses

‘At the moment the vaccine dividend in the UK is zero’ – Steve Heapy, CEO, Jet2

Going places? Jet2 has grounded flights and holidays until late June (Matt Carter)

Aviation chief executives have condemned “the continuing demonisation of overseas travel” by the UK government.

Speaking at online news conference organised by Airlines UK, Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2, said: “It’s been very frustrating to hear the government say that travel is dangerous.

“The list of ‘green’ destinations could be expanded significantly with very little increase in risk.”

At present the only significant European summer sun destination from which holidaymakers need not quarantine is Portugal.

Mr Heapy said: “The government must start recognising people who have been vaccinated. At the moment the vaccine dividend in the UK is zero.”

He also called for people who have recovered from Covid to be recognised as protected against further infection.

Jet2 has cancelled all flights and holidays from the UK until late June.

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said the UK is falling behind other European countries. He said: “The government has made this into a guessing game which is not led by data or science.

“It’s made it tremendously difficult for us to operate.”

Jonathan Hinkles, chief executive of Loganair, deplored the lack of transparency about the government’s criteria for the “traffic light” system.

“Trying to second guess this is like a ‘pin the tail on a donkey’ competition,” he said.

The aviation bosses also attacked the divergence between the traffic light lists, decided by the Department for Transport (DfT), and the Foreign Office (FCDO) advice.

While the DfT regards Spain’s Canary Islands as dangerous, and rates them as “amber,” the FCDO says there is low risk of coronavirus in the archipelago.

The government has promised a review of the “green list” in the first week in June, coming into effect a week later.

When announcing the original green list, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “We must make absolutely sure that the countries we reconnect with are safe. That their infection rates are low, and their vaccination rates are high.

“It means making sure that they are not incubating the most dangerous variants and that their data is reliable and trustworthy.”