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(Adds travel stocks, bookings data)
By Sarah Young
LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Britain is set to announce the
green list for countries that people can travel to on holiday
shortly, and will have the right procedures in place to ensure
travel can happen safely, said trade minister Liz Truss on
Tuesday.
Hopes that Britons will be able to travel to Europe rose on
Monday after the European Union recommended easing restrictions
to allow in people who were fully vaccinated or from countries
with a "good epidemiological situation", boosting travel stocks.
The British government said in mid-April it would announce
which countries would be open for quarantine-free travel from
England in early May, ahead of a plan to allow holidays again
from May 17 at the earliest.
"I don't think it will be much longer before we make those
announcements," Truss told Sky News.
Sources have suggested the list could be published on
Friday, after local elections are held on Thursday.
"People are looking to book a holiday but I would encourage
people to wait until we make that announcement," Truss added.
Shares in airlines and travel companies were buoyed by the
EU news. TUI, the world's largest holiday company, was
up 5% in early trading, while easyJet, Jet2 and
British Airways-owner IAG were between 2% to 4% higher.
Travel companies suggest there is pent up demand. UK-based
Thomas Cook, which sells holidays online, said that bookings in
the week ended May 2 were up 50% on the previous week, with
summer trips as well as autumn and 2022 packages all in demand.
Britain's biggest airport, Heathrow, has raised concerns
that a rise in passenger numbers could lead to long queues and
overcrowding at border control as COVID-19 means border staff
must check multiple forms.
Truss said procedures would be in place to facilitate travel
safely once it restarts.
"We need to make sure that we do have the set-up correct at
the airports, that we do have the mechanisms right before we go
ahead," she said.
(Editing by Paul Sandle and Philippa Fletcher)
