UPDATE 1-Britain reopens travel from May 17 to limited destinations

(Recasts with Shapps announcement)

By Sarah Young

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Britain will allow people in
England to resume international travel from May 17 but is
limiting the number of destinations open for quarantine-free
holidays to just a handful of countries as it cautiously emerges
from lockdown restrictions.

Portugal, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore all
made the green list for travel in a system that will be reviewed
every three weeks, transport minister Grant Shapps said on
Friday. Popular destinations such as France, Spain and Greece
did not.

Airlines, holiday companies and tourist hotspots in southern
Europe have been waiting for over four months for big-spending
Britons to start travelling again, but they will have to wait a
few months longer for a full rebound to take off.

Left off the list were Spain, France, Italy and the U.S.,
the top four most visited countries by UK residents in 2019,
which all sit in the amber category, requiring self-isolation on
return to the UK.

Despite the limitations, permitting travel abroad is still a
welcome boost for the beleaguered sector and should prompt
bookings. Britons have been banned from going abroad without an
essential reason since early January, a blow for leisure travel
and also splitting families who live across different countries.

British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair,
TUI and others will now likely have to wait until next
month for the larger scale re-opening they need to repair their
COVID-19 battered finances.

They have argued that Britain's vaccination programme, which
has outpaced the rest of Europe, should mean the country can
allow more travel sooner, but so far the EU's plans are ahead.
It has recommended the arrival of foreign travellers from more
countries from June.

Earlier on Friday, the chief executive of British
Airways-owner IAG called on the UK and the U.S. to open a travel
corridor given their high vaccination rates.

Countries where Britons might want to travel will still have
their own rules for entry. For example, Britons are currently
banned from going to the U.S.

Green list travel will involve people taking two COVID-19
tests, one before arrival back into the UK and one within two
days of returning.
($1 = 0.7208 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young
Editing by Keith Weir and Kate Holton)