Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

UK removes Portugal from holiday green list, Shapps confirms

UK removes Portugal from holiday green list, Shapps confirms

BRITAIN has removed Portugal from its quarantine-free travel list, the country's transport minister said on Thursday (3), essentially shutting down the UK's leisure travel market and deepening the pandemic crisis for airlines.

Airline easyJet also said no new countries would be added to the so-called green list.


Britain relaunched travel on May 17 following more than four months of lockdown, with Portugal the only big destination open to UK travellers.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps told reporters that Portugal would be moved to the amber list due to rising Covid-19 case numbers and the risk of a mutation of the virus variant first discovered in India.

Over the last three weeks, Portugal has proved a lifeline for airlines and travel companies. The industry had been expecting a wider reopening this month, but instead will face weeks of cancellations and more uncertainty.

"This decision essentially cuts the UK off from the rest of the world," easyJet said in an emailed statement.

The airline also said that the UK would be left behind as governments across Europe start to open up travel.

Shares in easyJet and British Airways-owner IAG and Jet2 were down 5 per cent, while Ryanair and TUI, which has a big German customer base as well as British, lost 4 per cent 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 business 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.

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 had told reporters.

However, travel companies and airlines have criticised the government for being overly cautious, saying that increasing vaccination rates and testing can make travel safe.

More For You

Exclusive: 'Starmer must fill NHS staffing defecit'
Dr Chaand Nagpaul

Exclusive: 'Starmer must fill NHS staffing defecit'

LABOUR's latest announcement to cut NHS waiting lists, while welcome, does not go far enough, the former leader of the doctors’ union, Chaand Nagpaul has told Eastern Eye.

Prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, unveiled his plans on Monday (6). He pledged Labour would set up more NHS hubs in community locations in England, and the service would make greater use of the private sector to help meet the challenge.

Keep ReadingShow less
Exclusive: 'Stop spreading racial hatred'
Nazir Afzal

Exclusive: 'Stop spreading racial hatred'

POLITICIANS must dial down “dangerous and inflammatory” rhetoric and recognise the contributions of all communities in Britain, prominent south Asians have told Eastern Eye.

They are concerned that recent social media attacks on asylum seekers, immigrants, especially British Pakistanis, as well as ministers will lead to unnecessary deaths.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lisa-Nandy-Getty

The culture secretary retains powers to refer the case to the Competition and Markets Authority, which could trigger an investigation into press freedom concerns linked to Abu Dhabi’s involvement. (Photo: Getty Images)

Calls grow for Lisa Nandy to end Telegraph ownership stalemate

THE SALE of The Telegraph newspaper has drawn widespread political calls for culture secretary Lisa Nandy to intervene and end the prolonged uncertainty surrounding its ownership.

The newspaper has been in limbo for 20 months after an auction process initiated by RedBird IMI, an Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund, failed to secure a suitable buyer.

Keep ReadingShow less
illegal-migrants-getty

According to government data, over 36,800 people crossed the Channel in 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Labour government reports highest illegal migrant removals since 2018

THE LABOUR government announced on Thursday that it had removed 16,400 illegal migrants since taking office in July, the fastest rate of removals since 2018.

On taking office, prime minister Keir Starmer scrapped the previous Conservative government's scheme to send migrants who arrive illegally to Rwanda, instead setting up a Border Security Command to crack down on illegal migration – a huge political issue in Britain.

Keep ReadingShow less
Two men jailed for trying to smuggle migrants into UK

Shafaz Khan (L), Choudhry Rashied (Photo: Home Office)

Two men jailed for trying to smuggle migrants into UK

TWO London-based men have been sentenced to over 10 years behind bars after being convicted of breaching UK immigration law by trying to smuggle four Indian migrants in a hidden van compartment disguised by a stack of dirty tyres.

According to the UK Home Office, British nationals Shafaz Khan and Choudhry Rashied, who operated under the alias ‘Manzar Mian Attique’, hid the group of migrants behind the tyres in a “purpose built” hidden space in the vehicle.

Keep ReadingShow less