Too early to speculate on travel ‘green list’ countries, ministers insist
The UK’s aviation minister has said it is still too early to speculate on the countries that will be on the travel “green list”, despite increasing calls for clarity from the travel industry.
With just over a month to go before international travel is due to restart on 17 May, airlines and passengers alike are nervously awaiting detail about which countries will face the least restrictions.
But speaking to MPs this morning, Robert Courts insisted that “it would not be right for me to speculate as to which countries in which parts of the world are likely to be on which list”.
Courts defended the policy, saying any decisions need to be taken using the most recent data. He said that the initial lists of countries would be revealed in early May.
His comments came as several airlines bosses shared their own opinions on which countries should be prioritised when travel returns.
Easyjet’s chief executive Johan Lundgren said that he thought most European countries, which are among the most popular destinations for UK holidaymakers, should be on the “green list” from 17 May.
He urged ministers to publish the “green list” as soon as possible in order to give customers clarity on which countries they would be able to go to.
Meanwhile British Airway’s chief executive Sean Doyle reiterated calls for the government to open a travel corridor to the US as soon as possible due to their similar progress with rolling out vaccinations.
“That [progress] should lead to the UK and the US being able to lead the way in terms of opening up,” he added. “There’s an immediate opportunity to open up the US.”
Responding to questions from MPs on this, Courts said it was worth bearing in mind that the US still has a ban on UK citizens entering the country.
Prior to the minister’s appearance, several other travel bosses had appeared before the transport select committee to make clear their disappointment with the Global Travel Taskforce’s report on restarting travel, which was published last week.
Simon McNamara, the UK country manager for airline body IATA, said that it was “too complex and cautious”.
He also warned that carriers would need a lead time if they were to get themselves set up for restarting travel.
“Airlines can’t just turn on flight operations at the drop of a hat”, he said.
Heathrow Airport’s chief solutions officer Chris Garton also highlighted huge delays at the border due to the massive increase in entry requirements.
He said that over 50 per cent of the 10,000-15,000 people passing through Heathrow each day were having to queue for three hours or more to pass immigration.
The Global Travel Taskforce review said it would explore ways of digitally integrating new entry requirements into airport e-gates to speed up the process.