UPDATE 3-UK to remove Portugal from safe travel list in blow for airlines - BBC

(Adds details, background)

By Sarah Young

LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - Britain is set to remove Portugal
from its quarantine-free travel list and no new countries will
be added, the BBC reported, essentially shutting down the UK's
leisure travel market once again in a hammer blow for airlines.

Britain relaunched travel on May 17 following more than four
months of lockdown, with Portugal the only big beach destination
alongside the likes of Israel, Iceland, Australia and New
Zealand.

Portugal proved a lifeline for airlines and travel companies
over the last three weeks, and its removal will deepen the
crisis for a travel industry which had looked to June for a
recovery to start.

Shares in airlines easyJet and British Airways and
travel companies TUI and Jet2 fell on fears
that Europe would lose another peak travel season, when millions
of Britons usually head to southern Europe in July and August.

The industry is already weakened by 15 months of lockdowns
and it will be severely financially challenged if there is no
reopening this summer.

Many companies had hoped for bumper trading given that
Britain has one of Europe's highest vaccination rates and is
gradually reopening its domestic economy.

But worries over the spread of new more transmissible
variants of coronavirus and the vaccine's efficacy against them
are now threatening that plan.

Shares in easyJet and British Airways-owner IAG and
Jet2 were all down 5% after the BBC reports. TUI, which has a
big German customer base as well as British, lost 3%.

Under the UK system, travel to countries rated amber or red
is not illegal but it is discouraged. Spain, France, Italy and
the United States are on the amber list which means quarantining
on return, restricting demand from Britons for what are usually
the most popular destinations.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had warned the travel industry
that protecting the country's vaccine roll-out was his priority.

"I want you to know we will have no hesitation in moving
countries from the green list to the amber list to the red list
if we have to do so. The priority is to continue the vaccine
rollout, to protect the people of this country," he told
reporters.

Travel companies and airlines have criticised the government
for being overly cautious, saying that increasing vaccination
rates and testing can make travel safe. The government is due to
update its plan later on Thursday.
(Reporting by William James and Sarah Young, Editing by Paul
Sandle, Kate Holton and Andrew Heavens)