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* EasyJet CEO says most of Europe should be open for Britons
* BA CEO says vaccine rates mean UK and U.S. routes should
open
* Minister says still too early to name green list countries
By Sarah Young and Laurence Frost
LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Hopes that the great British
getaway would be possible this summer grew on Wednesday, with
easyJet predicting that most of Europe would be open for
travel and British Airways confident on routes to the U.S.,
despite ongoing uncertainty.
Europe's travel industry, battered by the pandemic, is
counting on British holidaymakers to lead a tourism rebound this
summer. After one of the world's fastest vaccination programmes,
Britons could be permitted to travel from late May.
But over the last month, a third wave of coronavirus
infections in continental Europe has cast doubts on the bumper
return of travel.
The British government disappointed airlines and consumers
last Friday when it failed to say when travel could restart and
which countries would be on its green list of low-risk
destinations.
But easyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren shrugged off
concerns on Wednesday, telling reporters that he believed most
of Europe would be open for Britons by May 17, the earliest date
the government has said travel can restart.
"I would expect that almost all major European countries,
that by the time it comes to travel reopening, that most
countries in Europe should be in that category," he said of
Britain's green list.
Meanwhile, British Airways Chief Executive Sean Doyle said
there was an "immediate opportunity" to open up routes to the
United States, given the fast pace of vaccine roll outs in both
countries.
The two countries "more or less mirroring each other" on
vaccinations means they should be able to "lead the way" in
terms of opening up", he said during CAPA Live, an online
industry event.
But Britain's aviation minister Robert Courts said on
Wednesday that while the government did want to unlock travel,
he could not offer airlines more clarity yet.
"It wouldn't be right for me to speculate as to which
countries in which areas of the world are likely to be on which
list," he told a parliamentary committee. "It's too early to say
at the moment."
The government would give more details in early May, he
said.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye was also more
circumspect, predicting a "patchy" re-opening of travel with
long-haul journeys more likely.
"There is less chance of being able to fly to Europe in the
next few months than there is of flying to the US or Israel or
the Caribbean or Singapore," he told a separate industry event.
Europe's vaccination rollout has lagged the UK's and the
resurgence of cases in some countries is being driven by what
Britain regards as "variants of concern" in terms of the risk
they pose to vaccine efficacy.
The UK government's requirement for two COVID-19 tests to
allow travel to green list countries, which includes the more
costly "gold standard" PCR test that helps identify variants of
concern, gave Lundgren confidence that Europe would be open.
While easyJet opposes testing for low risk green-list
countries, Lundgren says if the government sticks with its two
test plan, "I wouldn't see reason why you wouldn't have the
majority of the countries of Europe in there."
Airlines have worried that the tests which can cost more
than 100 pounds ($137.52), or more than some of easyJet's ticket
prices, would deter travellers, although the government has said
it is trying to reduce the cost.
British Airways said on Wednesday its customers could now
book a cheaper 60 pound PCR test with provider Randox.
($1 = 0.7272 pounds)
(Writing by Sarah Young; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
