UPDATE 2-Britain reopens travel from May 17 to limited destinations

* Limited reopening to take place on May 17

* 12 countries to have quarantine-free travel

* Industry condemns excessive caution
(Adds details, quote)

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 Secretary Grant Shapps said.
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 United
States, 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.

Trade bodies for pilots and airlines said Britain was being
excessively cautious and that such a limited reopening would
continue to drag on an industry which is battling for survival.

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

"Today marks the first step in our cautious return to
international travel, with measures designed above all else to
protect public health and ensure we don’t throw away the
hard-fought gains we’ve all strived to earn this year," Shapps
said.

The travel industry had argued that Britain's rapid
vaccination programme should enable the country to open up more
quickly but the government has prioritised efforts to prevent
variances of the coronavirus from entering the country.

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.

Experts have warned that prices could shoot up for bookings
to the few countries on the green list and Shapps said airports
could also see longer delays as passengers have to show negative
test results.

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.

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.
($1 = 0.7208 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young
Editing by Keith Weir and Kate Holton)