Airlines get ready for the new countries added to the UK’s green list this week.
The UK’s travel rules
After a delay of normality in the UK, the government has been adding new countries to their traffic light system. Countries labelled green are available for vaccinated travellers and those with negative COVID-19 tests to travel in and out of freely.
The traffic light system was introduced back in May, but it seems to have only caused confusion for those that wanted to take advantage of it and travel abroad this summer.
At the start of this month, UK residents had to hurry back from Portugal as the country was swiftly taken away from the green list and added to the amber one. In the same month, no new countries were added to the green and many actually got moved to red – a complete no-go area. The UK government stated that they could change the colour of a country immediately, if they deemed it at risk of increasing the cases of coronavirus in the country. Instead of helping the travel industry, the traffic light system seems to be hindering it.
What countries are on the green list?
The UK government has added Malta, the Caribbean and the Balearic Islands to the green list, which means UK residents looking for a summer break may just be in luck. However, they are labelled as on the ‘green watchlist’, which means the government can move them to amber if they deem the country a coronavirus risk.
Despite this, low cost airlines have been increasing their flights to these new destinations on the green list. Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz have all been battling it out with low-cost prices as the countries get added to the green list.
What do you think of the ‘green watchlist’? Let us know in the comments below!
