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Airlines scrambled to lay on extra flights from Portugal so holidaymakers could make it back to the UK before the amber list deadline.
Portugal was removed from the green list in the latest traffic light reshuffle on Thursday, with transport secretary Grant Shapps saying the presence of the Delta variant and a higher positivity rate was behind the move.
The changes will come into effect from 4am on 8 June. Any holidaymakers arriving after that deadline will be required to self-isolate for 10 days at home and take two expensive post-arrival PCR tests.
The downgrade has been met with fury among the travel industry. The Portuguese ministry of foreign affairs labelled the decision “not logical”, while Professor Henrique Barros, president of Portugal’s National Health Council, called the removal an “overreaction”, adding that the overall situation in the country is “relatively stable”.
To meet demand, the UK’s largest airline, easyJet, said it will operate larger planes and additional flights to bring UK holidaymakers back from Portugal.
More than 1,000 additional seats have been added on routes from Faro to Gatwick, Luton, Manchester and Bristol.
“We know firsthand from our customers what a blow this sudden decision to put Portugal on the amber list is,” says easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren.
“With many British tourists currently in Portugal our priority is to help the customers who need to return ahead of the Tuesday deadline.
“We are providing over 1,000 additional seats from Portugal to the UK by flying larger aircraft on flights and adding some additional flights where there is demand.”
British Airways is also running three extra flights from Faro, in the popular Algarve, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to bring people back.
Tui, meanwhile, said it would operate bigger planes on Portugal routes – Boeing 787 Dreamliners rather than narrow-body 737s.
The added capacity comes during a spike in prices for plane seats that land before the deadline.
Research by The Independent shows that an outbound fare from Faro to London City airport on British Airways, touching down at 2.15pm on Monday, is showing as £545 per person. The same flight on Tuesday, which lands after the deadline, is £97.
Meanwhile, Ryanair flights from Lisbon and Faro to London Stansted on Sunday and Monday are showing as sold out.
Figures from Huq Industries, a data firm, estimates that more than 100,000 Britons are currently on holiday in Portugal. Conrad Poulson, chief executive, said: “Assuming the largest capacity Boeing 737 or equivalent can carry around 230 people that equates to around 487 flights to get every one of the remaining 112,177 people home.”
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