While on one hand India is battling second wave of COVID crisis, on the other hand, Britain is all set to announce the green list for countries that people can travel to on holiday shortly.
The green list countries will be safe for travelers and people will have the right procedures in place to ensure safe travel. The news was announced by the British trade minister Liz Truss on Tuesday.
On Monday, the European Union recommended easing restrictions and permitting fully vaccinated foreign citizens to travel. This definitely gave Britons the much-needed hope. England is hoping that from May 17 the plan can be acted upon.
“I don’t think it will be much longer before we make those announcements. People are looking to book a holiday but I would encourage people to wait until we make that announcement.” Truss told local news agencies.
According to sources, the list of green countries could be published on Friday which is after local elections get over on Thursday.
“People are looking to book a holiday but I would encourage people to wait until we make that announcement,” Truss added.
Shares in airlines and travel companies were buoyed by the EU news. TUI , the world’s largest holiday company, was up 5% in early trading, while easyJet (EZJ.L), Jet2 (JET2.L) and British Airways-owner IAG (ICAG.L) were between 2% to 4% higher.
Travel companies suggest there is pent up demand. UK-based Thomas Cook, which sells holidays online, said that bookings in the week ended May 2 were up 50% on the previous week, with summer trips as well as autumn and 2022 packages all in demand.
However, Britain’s biggest airport, Heathrow, has raised concerns that a rise in passenger numbers could lead to long queues and overcrowding at border control as COVID-19 means border staff must check multiple forms.
Truss said procedures would be in place to facilitate travel safely once it restarts.
“We need to make sure that we do have the set-up correct at the airports, that we do have the mechanisms right before we go ahead,” she said.
(With inputs from Reuters)