Holidays to Spain, Greece and France 'should restart by end of the month' for double-vaxxed Brits, says Jet2 boss

Holidays to Spain, Greece and France 'should restart by end of the month' for double-vaxxed Brits, says Jet2 boss

07/02/2021

HOLIDAYS to Europe should be back on the cards without having to quarantine by the end of the month, if the rules changed for double-vaxxed Brits, the boss of Jet2 has said.

The tour operator launched their first flight from Bristol Airport today, with package holidays to the Balearics, Madeira and Malta operating from the airport for the first time.

However, Jet2's Steve Heapy told Sun Online Travel until more destinations are added to the green list, or double-jabbed Brits can return from amber list countries without quarantining, holidays will fail to be back as usual.

Ministers are hoping to allow double-jabbed Brits to travel from amber list countries without having to quarantine, it was revealed yesterday.

Boris Johnson has said "double jabs will be a liberator" when asked about reports that fully vaccinated people may be able to travel quarantine-free from amber list countries by July 26.

Mr Heapy said would hopefully restart holidays to Europe hotspots including Spain, Greece and France.

When asked when Brits will be able to travel to most of Europe without restriction again, he said: "I think that will come if they change the amber criteria, and we're hoping that will be the end of July.

"The longer the government leave it, the harder it will be, but if they do it by the end of July, we could have a reasonable end to the season."


However, he called for more green list destinations to be added later this month.

He said: "As lovely as the Balearics, Malta and Madeira are, they aren't for everyone.

"Based on the data we can see and the government can see, there is a strong argument for the Canary Islands and many of the Greek Islands to be on the green list, and probably Cyprus."

He also said he "didn't know" why Turkey was still on the red list, and should be on the amber list instead.

"It has similar stats to destinations on the amber list, so would like to hear from the government why it is on the red list still," he said.

New additions to the green list this week were the Balearics, which includes Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca, along with Madeira and Malta.

However, Malta is only allowing in Brits who have had both jabs, which also includes kids between 12-17, while the Balearics requires Brits to have a negative test or be fully vaccinated.

Portugal also introduced new rules with Brits having to be double-vaxxed, but this doesn't apply kids, or to Madeira, which only requires a negative test.

Jet2 restarted their flights and holidays yesterday to green list destinations in Spain and Portugal.

However, their holidays and flights to amber list destinations have been cancelled until July 14 due to the uncertainty, with Mr Heapy saying Brits just "don't want to travel to amber destinations".

Jet2holidays also has a Holiday Refund Guarantee that promises a quick refund to customers if the company has to cancel your holiday due to coronavirus.

They've added special Covid-cover to their travel insurance which covers you if Foreign Office travel advice changes during your trip, and you're also covered if you or someone in your group fails an airport check, like a temperature reading or COVID-19 test.

TUI has also cancelled more flights and holidays until next month due to travel uncertainty, including to Spain, Greece and Italy.

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