Quarantine-free holiday air bridges to Europe in days
June 25 2020, The Times
Foreign holiday bookings have surged by more than 50 per cent in two weeks as Britons secure their breaks before the government eases travel restrictions.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said yesterday that quarantine-free “air bridges” would be announced to countries that have a coronavirus test and trace system comparable to Britain’s.
The Times understands that deals will be confirmed with a small number of countries popular with British holidaymakers, including Spain, Italy, Greece and France. Portugal is also likely to be included despite a recent spike in Covid-19 cases.
The move will be confirmed on Monday in an attempt to lift the travel industry, although it is unlikely that quarantine-free flights will run straight away. There could be a week’s delay.
Foreign Office travel advice which warns at present against non-essential overseas travel is also set to be relaxed to allow foreign holidays to take place for the first time since late March. Cross-government talks on the package are set to take place tomorrow when it is believed that a deal will be finalised.
The move will be welcomed by airlines and holiday companies that have been hit by the biggest crisis in their history over the past three months with the complete collapse of bookings. European airlines alone are forecast to lose £18.5 billion in 2020.
Mr Shapps’s announcement came after the prime minister confirmed on Tuesday that domestic holidays will be possible from July 4, with hotels and campsites deemed “Covid-secure” able to open. Over the past 24 hours, some companies have reported an eight-fold increase in bookings for UK holidays.
Travel firms are also reporting a surge in demand for overseas holidays in the expectation that foreign breaks will soon also be allowed.
Travelsupermarket, the price comparison website, said that demand for holidays to some destinations in Spain had doubled over the past week compared with seven days earlier. Online searches for holidays to Mallorca are up by 96 per cent week-on-week, while Gran Canaria is up by 51 per cent, Tenerife by 48 per cent and Benidorm by 46 per cent.
Over the past two weeks, demand for Spanish holidays is up by 42 per cent overall compared with the first fortnight in June. The number of Britons attempting to book to Portugal over the summer is up by 35 per cent, while numbers have increased by 31 per cent to Greece. Conversely, there has been a drop in demand for holidays to countries such as the US, with searches down by 22 per cent.
The government imposed a 14-day quarantine on all international arrivals into the UK on June 8. This includes Britons returning from overseas. The government promised to review the scheme within three weeks, with the announcement due on Monday.
Cross-government talks on regulations for overseas trips are to take place tomorrow. Labour has changed tack on the 14-day quarantine, calling for it to be abolished in favour of screening at airports, including temperature checks and Covid-19 tests for arrivals.
Addressing the Commons transport committee, Mr Shapps said that quarantine-free air bridges were a “massive priority”. He added: “I understand entirely the pain that aviation is going through. I know both for airports, for airlines and actually for ground handlers as well, this coronavirus has been a complete disaster.
“The only thing which will be worse is if the country does not continue the work it’s doing on getting on top of it.”
However, he said that deals would only be agreed with countries which have a coronavirus test and trace system at the same standard as the UK’s.
Asked what the “key considerations” were in the negotiations, the transport secretary said the ability of a country to alert people if they have been in contact with a person who has coronavirus was one of the factors.
Outlining the questions being asked by UK officials, he said: “Do they have something equivalent to our NHS test and trace system? The test and trace system is enormous here now. We’ve got the capacity to test far more than is immediately required but that would allow for any uplift anywhere.
“Does the country we’re talking to have that kind of capability?”
He said another issue being considered was the level and trajectory of the disease in a destination, suggesting that agreements would not be made with countries where coronavirus rates are growing.
Portugal has reported several hundred new coronavirus cases per day over the last week, threatening its status as a Covid-safe country. Some lockdown measures, including an 8pm curfew, are being reimposed in Lisbon, the capital, after a spike in new coronavirus cases.
Mr Shapps said: “As we see our numbers fall we want to make sure we are not reinfected either by Brits going abroad and coming back or by people coming here from those areas. So the quarantine is serving that purpose but we are also aware that there are areas where the virus is more under control and we are having conversations and I will saying more about that by the 29th.”
Domestic holidays are already soaring in popularity on the back of the lifting of the lockdown from July 4, with camping particularly popular.
The booking platform Pitchup.com said that it had its busiest day in ten years yesterday. In all, 8,200 bookings were made in the first 24 hours since the prime minister’s announcement, with most in July and August. Cornwall is the busiest location, accounting for 14 per cent of all bookings, followed by Devon, Pembrokeshire, East Sussex and Norfolk.
Cool Camping, which focuses on independent glamping and camping sites, said bookings yesterday had increased by 750 per cent compared with the same day last year.
Hoseasons said that its sales were up 270 per cent by the end of Tuesday compared with the same day last year. Its sister company cottages.com reported a 455 per cent increase as both brands smashed their previous record sales days.
Simon Altham, chief commercial officer of Awaze UK, the parent company of both brands, said: “We were expecting greater levels of interest, but the surge in demand was still surprising and we certainly hadn’t expected a record day.
“Over the last few weeks we’ve seen volumes of inquiries and bookings increase on a daily basis, as people begin to become more confident about booking a UK holiday. Government confirmation seems to have just given people an extra level of certainty.
“All the evidence suggests that holidays remain a priority for most people, and this year more than ever the chance to get away is something customers are very much looking forward to.”
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