Tui and EasyJet to offer holidays in amber countries

EasyJet and Tui have said that they will operate holidays to countries classified as amber, provided Foreign Office advice allows travel.

It comes after the Foreign Office (FCDO) stopped advising against all but essential travel to a number of amber destinations last week.

Most countries fall into the category and anyone visiting will still face a strict quarantine on their return.

From 17 May it will no longer be illegal to holiday abroad.

At present, only 12 countries are on the government's "green list" for foreign holidays, meaning they are not required to quarantine when they get to the UK, although they will need to take a covid test before departure and another on arrival in the UK.

By contrast, those visiting amber countries such as Spain and France must take a covid test before departure and two more on arrival. They also need to quarantine at home for 10 days when they return.

Speaking on Friday, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that although holidays abroad would no longer be illegal from Monday 17 May, the government advised against travel to amber countries for leisure.

However Tui and EasyJet are still going to push ahead with their plans.

An EasyJet Holidays spokeswoman said: "We recognise that many our customers do still want their holidays to go ahead, so for 'amber' list destinations where holidays can be enjoyed safely and legally, which do not have 'all but essential travel' warnings and where there is no quarantine requirement in destination, we are providing flexibility and choice so customers can make up their own mind about their holiday.

"We've further enhanced our flexibility for travel this summer, meaning customers to these destinations have the option to go on holiday as planned, or make fee free changes up to 24 hours before departure."

She added that EasyJet did not intend to operate any holidays to destinations on the "red" list.

Tui's spokeswoman said: "We want to offer our customers flexibility and choice this summer, so where borders are open and FCDO advice allows travel, we will operate to those destinations.

"We know some customers may be unsure about travelling this summer, so we've offered free changes 14 days before travel for anyone due to travel before the end of August."

Also on Wednesday, Spain's Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya said the UK should take a regional approach when deciding which places should be on the green list. The country is on the amber list.

She told BBC Breakfast: "We are having good discussions with the UK authorities to convince them there are many regions in Spain - Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Valencia - where the numbers are equivalent to those in the UK today.

"Maybe if the UK looks with a regional lens they will discover that there are many safe places already in Spain to travel to. Let's keep on working, but it's looking good for British tourists to spend their holidays in Spain this summer."

She said Spain was proceeding at pace with its vaccination effort and that over 30% of Spaniards had already received at least one shot, with six million were fully vaccinated. She said that the country was 98 days away from collective immunity.

It comes as Tui reported reported a sharp jump in demand for holidays this winter as more people defer their holidays.

As of 2 May, bookings this year for winter 2021/22 breaks were up 17% on the same period in 2019. But total summer bookings were down 69% due to continued uncertainty over travel rules.

Nevertheless, TUI said it expected the safe return of holidays in the coming months.

"The continued vaccination progress across our key customer markets and destinations, combined with more testing, and comprehensive hygiene measures throughout our eco-system, should enable the safe return to holidays this summer," it said.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, third lockdown and travel restrictions, Tui's revenues dived by 89% to €716m (£614.6m) in the six months to March.

However, TUI said customers were keen to travel once Covid restrictions were fully lifted.

It said nearly three times as many Britons have decided to book with the travel giant for the summer of 2022 compared with 2019.

The travel operator said it was focused on reopening a portfolio of destinations strong vaccination coverage and low incidence rates, including the Greek islands, the Balearics, the Canaries and Portugal.