Skyscanner slashes flight prices to green list countries including Malta and Croatia in last-minute summer getaway bid

AIRLINES have slashed the prices of flights to green list countries in a desperate bid to boost last minute summer getaways.

Trips to Croatia, Germany and Latvia have all fallen in price since they were given the green light for last-minute trips abroad, site comparison site Skyscanner shows.

Air fares to nations that had been rumoured to move to the amber-plus category but stayed amber – such as Portugal and Greece – have also dropped, The Telegraph reports.

Flights to Malta can be snapped up from £29 in August, while a trip to Latvia's Riga starts at £37.

Holidaymakers can also get a direct flight to Cologne in Germany from £31 and Berlin from £55 next week.

Prices to Croatia are slightly higher, with outward seats starting at £135 to Split and £183 to Dubrovnik.

Germany and Latvia joined the green list today when the latest travel updates came into force at 4am.

Croatia was already green, although it is on the watchlist for turning amber.

Gavin Harris of Skyscanner said travel firms were using low prices to help build confidence as people started to travel again and said prices were forecast to remain low.

“This extremely competitive marketplace is fantastic news for travellers looking for good value trips,” he said.

Meanwhile, return tickets to Spanish hotspots of Alicante, Tenerife and Malaga are all currently selling at more than a 10 per cent discount compared with before the pandemic.

Rory Boland of consumer group Which?, explained that airlines had a lot of spare capacity as the number of flights remained dramatically reduced.

It means they can react quickly to any government announcements.

“They add flights, making more seats available, and that pushes prices down," he said.

"Immediately when changes are announced you can see price increases because capacity has not had time to shift, but they tend to fall within a couple of days.

"Anyone booking a holiday to a green-list country should wait for a few days after travel restrictions have changed to get the cheapest flights," he added.

Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway were all added to the Government’s green list at 4am today.

The countries are believed to pose a "low risk" to UK public health and will mean anyone travelling to them will not have to quarantine on their return to England.

India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were moved from red to amber as Covid cases in the countries drop.

Meanwhile, Georgia, La Reunion, Mayotte and Mexico were added to the red list.

The countries are said to present a "high public health risk" to the UK from known variants of concern, known high-risk variants under investigation or as a result of very high Covid rates.

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