LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - Britain has been urged to publish
its "green" list of countries where people from England will be
able to travel as soon as possible as the May 17 date for the
restart of holidays nears.
The parliamentary Transport Committee on Saturday called on
the government to provide the details of its three-tier "traffic
light" system for rating destination countries based on their
COVID-19 safety.
Ongoing uncertainty over when and where people can travel
could cost further jobs in the already battered travel, aviation
and tourism sectors, warned the committee.
"There are just 16 days until international travel is
expected to resume on 17 May. Incredibly, passengers and
industry are still in the dark about which countries they can
visit and the requirements to do so," Transport Committee
chairman Huw Merriman said in a statement.
The government said in mid-April it would announce which
countries were in which category in early May, ahead of a plan
to allow holidays again from May 17 at the earliest.
Under the government plans, travellers returning from green
countries will need to take a COVID-19 test just before arriving
into the UK and another test on or before the second day of
returning but will not need to quarantine. Amber country
arrivals will require a period of self-isolation at home as well
as the tests and red countries quarantine in a hotel plus tests.
Travel experts say that the initial list of green countries
could be very limited with just Iceland, Malta, Gibraltar and
Israel making it, although airlines are hoping that some larger
destinations like the United States and Portugal will also
feature.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by Andy Bruce)
easyJet (EZJ)