Member Info for Istabrraq

SassaJ, all about the dates now. I suspect the travel sector drop may be pricing in a later rather than sooner time frame for the quarantine exemption (done deal). Hope I am a wrong, would like to see this above 200 in the near future. GLA, LTH.

Botbot120268, my thoughts exactly. Covid has to burn itself out in the UK population soon, right? Maybe some small pockets will be left here & there, but the emergency has passed. Time to move on.

Teddy100, what about inflation? Story below from Daily Telegraph.

'Infighting among oil producing nations pushed oil prices in New York to jump to their highest in over six years, as investors consider whether the UAE-Saudi dispute could escalate into a price war that could hamper the global economic recovery and add to inflationary pressures'

Is this the end of OPEC?, could this be the cause of the drop?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/07/06/opec-saudi-arabia-and-uae-infighting-threatens-future-of-oil-group.html

Hopefully we will find out the date & details tomorrow, see link below. Seen a few dates mentioned over the past few weeks but nothing definite, e.g. 19th & 26th July, 2nd August.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9760575/amp/Quarantine-free-travel-amber-list-countries-fully-jabbed-Britons-set-unveiled-TOMORROW.html

Found the comment below on the DM portal. Fingers crossed we get good news this week.
'Grant Shapps is working with the travel industry on 'amber list' quarantine rules for the double jabbed, with an update expected later this week.

An update on plans to axe school 'bubbles' for isolation is also due later this week.'.

Re-invested here & taken an interest in Jet2. Confidence is returning, onwards & upwards. GLA.

Yes the UK narrative is beginning to change. Will it change swiftly enough to save the summer, I am not sure. Europe may be back on the radar but as RogueRiver said the US is in a bit of a mess with regards to vaccine status, i.e. Astra vaccine has still not been approved & because AZ have decided to apply for a full licence this may take months. Personally I am currently not invested, pondering a re-entry but lost a bit on the recent SP dip so am hesitant to do so atm.

Story below from The Sun newspaper (also in the Telegraph) . Be interesting to see if the Balaerics are placed in the amber list at the next review. Hopefully not but I am not confident.
'Ibiza and Majorca holidays are already at risk as Covid cases double in last 14 days.
Holidays to the Balearic Islands could already be at risk due to rising Covid cases.
The islands, which include Ibiza and Majorca, have been added to the green list today meaning Brits can visit without quarantining back in the UK.
However, the islands are on the green "watch list" meaning they could be added to the amber list at short notice.
Travel expert Paul Charles, founder of PC Agency, revealed that Covid cases on the island have doubled in recent weeks.
He wrote: "An emerging dilemma for the government - the Balearics, which join the green watchlist today, have seen their 14-day infection rate more than double in the last 10 days, to 84/100,000."
He added that while it was just one of the criteria used for determining the risk of a country, alongside genome sequencing and the variants, it could put the green destination at risk.
It comes just days after thousands of students were forced into isolation across Spain, after 850 tested positive in Majorca.
Portugal was removed from the UK's green list just three weeks after it was added, causing chaos for holidaymakers and soaring cases
Many holiday hotspots have also started restricted Brits due to the Delta variant in the UK.
Spain announced earlier this week that all UK arrivals must now be fully vaccinated or have a negative Covid test.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed that any Brits entering the country will be like the “rest of European citizens” which requires a negative Covid test or to be fully vaccinated, according to local media.'

Some positive news today.

Hopes have been raised of summer holidays in Europe for fully vaccinated Britons as a deal with Brussels on Covid passports neared completion and Germany failed to convince popular destinations to pull an “emergency brake” on UK visitors.
Restrictions on travel are tightening across the continent for tourists coming from the UK who have not had two jabs, owing to concerns over the highly transmissible Delta variant now dominant in Britain.
Portugal announced on Monday that people unable to prove full vaccination status would face 14 days in quarantine. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said Britons travelling to the Balearic islands would need to show either a negative PCR test or proof that they have been fully vaccinated to avoid having to self-isolate. From Wednesday, the Balearics will be on the UK government’s green list of countries from which travellers will not need to quarantine when they return home.
But for travellers from the UK who have had both doses of an approved vaccine, the prospect of a relatively normal summer break appears brighter, with popular destinations loth to shut the doors on those who are unlikely to be infectious. According to the latest data, 61.9% of UK adults are now fully vaccinated and 84.4% have had at least a first dose.
The German government, which has enforced a 14-day quarantine on all tourists from Britain since 26 May, is yet to convince countries more dependent on tourism that stringent quarantine requirements on all travellers from the UK are necessary.
The prospects for the fully vaccinated appeared all the better on Monday as it emerged that talks were advancing well on the mutual recognition of an NHS app and the EU’s green digital certificate ensuring that travellers can prove their status.
The apps allow border controls to scan a QR code to confirm the vaccination status of the traveller and provide free passage. A European Commission spokesperson said: “There are talks ongoing at the technical level which are progressing well and going in the right direction. This is particularly because the technical system architecture of the EU and the UK are aligned.

“The talks are ongoing – I have no specific timeline to announce. It’s good that the UK is now working with us towards that goal.”
A UK government spokesperson said unlocking international travel was “vitally important” and that officials were seeking to “ensure certification is introduced in a way that works for everyone”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/28/uk-and-brussels-near-deal-on-covid-passports-to-boost-holiday-hopes

Listened to a travel podcast earlier this morning from Simon Calder & Paul Charles. Both expected the US to be open sometime in late August, 75% confident. Also mentioned that they expected the new UK health Secretary to be less cautious than his predecessor with more consideration given to the business implications & other health aspects of restrictions. From that they expect early introduction of the fully vaccinated quarantine policy to be commence in July (mid to late), which maybe ties in with the Canaries speculation. The potential lifting of quarantine restrictions sometime soon is the main reason I re-invested in IAG, hanc**k exiting is a bonus as it changes the dynamic of the cabinet to a more hawkish approach. So would expect a bolder ambitious UK gov moving forward. Only concern is the likely increase of covid delta cases in the EU & the subsequent reaction therein. GLA.

scoopusave, I would bet matt hanc**k & his wife are now socially distant.

Matt han**ck apparently vetoed Malta's inclusion on the May green list. With himself, Patel & Gove being the overly cautious persons in cabinet discussions. Maybe if he is muted to some degree or even shown the door the UK Gov can take some less risk averse decisions. Currently approx 1600 people in NHS with covid & as the health Secretary said himself very low deaths (more people are dying from other respiratory illnesses). With furlough ending soon many businesses in the UK travel industry will have to decide on whether they are viable or not. Without sector specific support there will be large scale job losses. Perhaps Boris & Co are waiting for these headlines to appear? GLA

Yes, I believe it will. GL.

Shapps twitter comment.
'Thanks to our successful vaccination programme, our intention is that later in the summer UK residents who are fully vaccinated will not have to isolate when travelling from amber list countries.
We’ll set out further details next month.'.

Agree disappointing not to see the Canaries or any Greek Islands. Still a small step in the right direction. Waiting for Shapps to make his announcement, maybe get more details on the metrics used for the lists & potential vaccine status consideration.

N. I. GOV added the below countries.

Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Balearic Islands
Barbados
Bermuda
British Antartic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Grenada
Madeira
Malta
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands
Turks & Caicos

N. I. GOV have announced new green list countries, see below. Hopefully England & others will follow or add.

Balearic Islands
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Cayman Islands
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Malta

Concur with the views of Jtan & sold last week due to losing faith in the UK gov travel policy. Too much uncertainty/risk in the travel industry at the moment for me. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Good luck to those still holding, will re-enter should opportunities / circumstances change.

View of Paul Charles

https://www.pc.agency/blog/travel-sacrificed-by-uk-ministers/

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/travel-industry-day-of-action-planned-for-june-23

According to data from the International Air Transport Association (Iata), the UK has only 13 per cent of 2019 flights operating. Germany has almost three times as many, even though the UK’s vaccination rate is 40 per cent higher.

The Abta chief executive said: “I find it very difficult to understand why we have the highest vaccination rate, and yet we have the lowest amount of flights coming into and departing the country.