Airline and holiday firms hit out at UK’s ‘utterly confusing’ travel advice

Airline and holiday firm bosses have joined in attacking the UK government’s “utterly confusing” advice on foreign travel, accusing ministers of “moving the goalposts” and lacking transparency over decisions on safe destinations. The UK was being left behind Europe and throwing away the success of its coronavirus vaccination programme, they said, warning that another lost summer would have “grave consequences” for the industry. The bosses of easyJet, British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2, Tui UK and others have written to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to register their dismay at ministers’ comments suggesting travel was dangerous, urging the government to “stick to the framework” of the traffic light system instead of telling people to not visit amber-listed countries. The letter says: “The government now appears not to want a meaningful restart to international travel this summer, and it is impossible for any business or consumers to plan under this scenario, such that we are genuinely fearful that some UK businesses may fail.” Speaking earlier, the chief executive of easyJet, Johan Lundgren, said that there was no transparency on the parameters of the green list, compared with other European countries: “The government has made this into a guessing game, not led by data and science. It’s made it tremendously difficult for operators to plan.”<br/>