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The Algarve, in green-listed Portugal, is a popular holiday spot for Britons
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A smattering of Greek islands, the Canaries and Malta could be added to the government’s “green list” on Thursday, raising hopes for an expanded choice of destinations for summer holidays.
International travel for leisure purposes resumed on 17 May in Britain under a traffic light system.
Just 12 destinations are on the UK government’s green “safe” list for travel, which measures the risk of Covid reimportation. The list was first revealed on 7 May, with Portugal the only mainstream holiday country to be included, alongside Gibraltar, Iceland and Israel.
Green list returnees don’t need to quarantine, although they still need to present a negative Covid test before departure to the UK, and a PCR test within two days of arrival.
The red and amber lists are also expected to be shuffled on Thursday.
Follow live for traffic light reshuffle news and reaction.
A handful of Greek islands are slated to go green in the review.
Here’s what travel correspondent Simon Calder has to say about which ones might make the grade:
My interpretation is as follows for the key islands (from a UK perspective):
- Likely: Kefalonia, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Zante.
- Possible: Corfu, Lesbos and Rhodes.
- Unlikely: Crete.
Of course there are many other lovely Greek islands but these are the most significant for British visitors.”
Read his answers to 34 green list questions here.
Cathy Adams3 June 2021 08:53
Balearics?
The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder answered readers’ travel questions on the green list in an “Ask Me Anything”.
One reader asked what the chances were of Mallorca being added to the green list.
Here’s what Simon said: “Expect a relatively modest number of additions to the quarantine free list. While the Balearics – Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza – look prime candidates, that is no guarantee that they will make the grade.
“I expect a sprinkling of Greek Islands to go green, and if Malta does not make the cut then the Maltese have every right to be Cross.”
Read his answers to 34 green list questions here.
Cathy Adams3 June 2021 08:52
Red list changes
While all the attention is on the green list, there could also be changes to the red list.
The list of “unsafe” destinations based on Covid reimportation risks, is 43 countries strong and includes most of South America, Africa and India.
The former director of strategy at BA’s parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) and founder of GridPoint Consulting Limited, Robert Boyle, recently assessed the available case rate and testing data to predict which countries might move lists.
Purely based on infection rates, the countries with the highest reported case rates – based on a seven-day average reported cases per million – that are currently classified as amber are Bahrain, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and Kuwait.
“Expect those to be added shortly” to the red list, wrote Mr Boyle.
Read Helen Coffey’s report here.
Cathy Adams3 June 2021 08:43
Travellers should exercise ‘common sense’ when travelling internationally
The public should “exercise their common sense” about travelling abroad, a Home Office minister has said.
Asked on Times Radio whether her department would rather people stayed in the UK, Victoria Atkins said: “We’re very, very, very supportive of the traffic light system. There are some countries in the world at the moment that because of the variants and the rates of infection are simply too dangerous for us to visit in terms of Covid, and of course they are on the red list.
“We then have the amber list which we very much ask people not to travel to unless there are very particular, very dire consequences they’re having to deal with, such as a dying relative, and then the green list.
“And look, the overall goal, we all want to get back to normality, pre-pandemic normality. But I think all understand we’ve got to take careful steps to do that. And so the travel plan and travel lists are very much part of our road map out of lockdown restrictions, but we do have to look at the data.
“We do have to look at what is happening elsewhere in the world, in order to help advise the public as to what is allowed and what is not allowed. But as with anything, we’re asking the public to exercise their common sense and that is the way that we’re going to be able to return to normality.”
Cathy Adams3 June 2021 08:21
What will make the green list?
Welcome to the travel live blog.
We’re expecting the green list to be reshuffled at some point today, and there are plenty of predictions for what might be on it: Greek islands, the Canary islands, Malta and Finland in Europe.
Deputy travel editor Helen Coffey has the full report of what might make the cut here.
Cathy Adams3 June 2021 08:16
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