U.K. travel company Jet2 has announced it has postponed the resumption of all its flights and holidays until 23 June.
The U.K. Government has confirmed the vaccination campaign is on schedule but the situation is still uncertain and at the moment there are no guarantees international travel will be able to resume on 17 May as previously announced.
“We are extremely disappointed at the lack of clarity and detail,” said Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy, the Daily Express reports. “The framework lacks any rigorous detail about how to get international travel going again.”
“After several weeks exploring how to restart international travel, with substantial assistance and input from the industry, the framework lacks any rigorous detail about how to get international travel going again. In fact, the framework is virtually the same as six months ago.”
He called for more clarity, stating: “Following the publication of the framework today, we still do not know when we can start to fly, where we can fly to and the availability and cost of testing. Rather than answering questions, the framework leaves everyone asking more. Because of the continued uncertainty that the framework provides, it is with a heavy heart that we have taken the decision to extend the suspension of flights and holidays up to and including 23 June 2021.”
Once travel is given the go-ahead, a traffic light system will be adopted and countries will be categorised as green, amber or red according to the level of COVID-19 risk. However, even passengers returning from a low-risk (green) country will be required to take a PCR test once back in the U.K. That test could cost up to £200, making holidays affordable only to the wealthy.
All passengers affected by the cancellation will be offered the option to postpone their holidays of obtain a full refund.
