Last checked at 
By Sarah Young
LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Holidays abroad are "extremely
unlikely" for most Britons this summer due to the risk of
importing new variants of COVID-19, a scientist who advises the
government said on Saturday, leaving airlines and travel
companies bracing for a second lost peak season.
Britain has banned travel for most people during the current
lockdown and has said overseas holidays will not be allowed
until May 17 at the earliest.
But Mike Tildesley, a scientist on a government advisory
body, said the risk of importing vaccine-resistant variants back
into the UK would likely scupper the nation's annual getaway.
"I think international travel this summer is, for the
average holidaymaker, sadly I think, extremely unlikely,"
Tildesley, a professor of infectious disease modelling at the
University of Warwick, told BBC Radio on Saturday.
His warning is a further setback for the travel industry's
recovery prospects during the peak vacation season.
Airlines and holiday companies such as British Airways (part
of International Consolidated Airlines), easyJet
and TUI are desperate for travel to resume
after a year of COVID-19 restrictions which has left them
struggling financially.
Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza
Modelling group which reports into the government's Scientific
Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said travel overseas and
the variants that could be imported could undermine Britain's
vaccine programme.
"I think we are running a real risk if we do start to have
lots of people going overseas in July, for instance, and August,
because of the potential for bringing more of these new variants
back into the country," Tildesley said.
Britain has already given half of its adult population a
first vaccination, putting it far ahead of the rest of Europe,
but existing vaccines are thought to be not as effective against
some variants now surging in parts of Europe.
(Reporting by Sarah Young
Editing by David Holmes)
