Flight bookings surge in UK after change to Covid travel list

Airlines on Thursday reported a surge in flight bookings from the UK after the government announced that fully vaccinated passengers and their children could return from amber-listed countries without quarantine after 19 July. EasyJet said that bookings to destinations rated as amber for coronavirus rose by 400%, and holiday bookings increased by 440 week-on-week in the hours since the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, confirmed the change in policy on Thursday morning. BA said website traffic almost doubled after the announcement, with Spanish and US amber destinations becoming the most searched destinations, alongside the the Balearic and Caribbean islands, which were listed as green. Spain, Greece and Portugal topped the amber list countries for flights and holidays, according to the airline easyJet, which added an extra 145,000 seats for the summer. Johan Lundgren, CE of easyJet, said: “We have been delighted with the customer response to the removal of amber list quarantine for the fully vaccinated, so Europe has now turned green for the double jabbed.” However, consumer groups said Britons should remain wary of booking since many destinations, such as the US, still barred UK arrivals, and there was potential confusion with Foreign Office travel advice, affecting insurance policies.<br/>