UK airlines share prices have fallen steeply today on the news that the UK government has removed Portugal from its green list of countries UK travellers can visit without a compelling reason and without any quarantine requirements.
At its first three-weekly review of the UK Government’s traffic light list for travel, the UK added no new countries to the green list and moved Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) to the amber list from Tuesday (4am on June 8) due to “variants of concern and emerging mutations”, in particular the so-called Indian and Nepal variants of Covid-19. Seven countries – Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Trinidad & Tobago – have also been added to the red list.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The public has always known travel will be different this year and we must continue to take a cautious approach to reopening international travel in a way that protects public health and the vaccine rollout.”
The UK has also announced a limited trial, from 8 June, to allow direct flights to England from countries on the ‘red list’ that were previously subject to flight bans, so long as they arrive at dedicated terminals at Heathrow and Birmingham airports.
Wizz Air share price 3.5% by mid-morning, while easyJet stock fell 1.8%. IAG stock fell 1.4%, with OEM Rolls-Royce shares down by 2.9%.
Jet2, easyJet and Ryanair have all hit out at the move and criticised being blindsided by the government decision.
Jet2 has postponed resuming flights until July 1 – the UK holiday airline had been planning on restarting its flights on 24 June. As Turkey remains on the red list, Jet2 flights to the country will resume on July 22.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said that he shared the frustrations of customers: “The UK Government has repeatedly stated that it is making decisions based on infection and vaccination rates, yet many destinations continue to be left off the Green List despite having low infection rates and high vaccination rates. When you apply the Government’s own criteria for making decisions about travel, we simply cannot understand why more destinations across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands are not allowed to open to UK holidaymakers.”
Heapy has called for more “openness and transparency” on the data that is driving government decisions.
“We agree that public health must be the number one priority. However, despite all the evidence and data showing that travel can restart safely and at scale, the UK continues to remain largely grounded whilst the rest of Europe opens up,” adds Heapy. “We know that there is enormous pent-up demand for our flights and ATOL protected package holidays. … We know international travel can restart safely, so we urge the Government to urgently reconsider its approach and work with the industry to help us achieve that.”
easyJet's CEO Johan Lundgren has commented widely on many media channels to express his frustration with the UK government’s decision making on the travel lists.
“This shock decision to add Portugal to the Amber list is a huge blow to those who are currently in Portugal and those who have booked to be reunited with loved ones, or take a well-deserved break this summer. With Portuguese rates similar to those in the UK it simply isn’t justified by the science,” said Lundgren. “When this framework was put together, consumers were promised a waiting list to allow them to plan. Yet the government has torn up its own rule book and ignored the science, throwing peoples’ plans into chaos, with virtually no notice or alternative options for travel from the UK. This decision essentially cuts the UK off from the rest of the world.”
“While our European fleet is gearing up for summer as European governments open up travel for their citizens, the UK government is making it impossible for airlines to plan while consumers are left grounded in the UK,” he adds.
easyJet has added more seats on flights from Portugal to the UK between Saturday 5th and Monday 7 June, to help flights and holidays customers return to the UK ahead of deadline to move Portugal to the amber list.
Ryanair too has raged against what it calls the “bizarre” decision to recategorize Portugal, which it says has no “basis in public health or medical science”.
Ryanair has also condemned Transport Minister Grant Shapps “failure to add other destinations to the UK Green List, such as Malta, which has now overtaken the UK with almost 80% of its population receiving a Covid vaccine, and Covid case rates in Malta are just 12 per 100,000 population, less than 25% of the rate in the UK”.
Ryanair also called for other Islands, such as the Balearics and the Canaries, to be immediately added to the UK green list.
“Boris Johnson’s Government is again mismanaging the Covid recovery,” said Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary. “This stop-go-stop approach to short haul travel in Europe is inexplicable and unjustified when 75% of the UK population has now received a Covid vaccine. There is no medical or public health reason for moving Portugal from the Green to the Amber List, when its Covid case rates are as low as the UK at just 50 per 100,000 population, and Portugal’s vaccine rollout programme has exceeded 40% and is rapidly catching up with UK levels.”
O’Leary added that this stop-go-stop approach to international travel is “damaging for the UK and for millions of UK families”. Ryanair has called on prime minister Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps to immediately return Portugal to the Green List, and add those other low risk destinations such as Malta, the Balearics and the Canary Islands.