Industry leaders are already looking beyond this week to the review of the traffic light system due by October 1, with expectations limited ahead of the government review of countries’ green, amber and red status.
They are urging the government to bring that date forward and simplify the system.
Few beneficial changes are expected this week amid media speculation that Jamaica, St Lucia and Dominica, could join the red list due to rising Covid rates and some green countries including Croatia and Israel could move to amber.
One leading industry source dismissed this week’s review saying: “A lot of people at the Department for Transport are on leave [and] Afghanistan will have diverted a lot of attention. There won’t be a lot of bandwidth for travel.
“The bigger question is what date they pick [for the system review]. Could they bring that forward from October 1?”
Demands to “change the testing regime” are expected to dominate industry lobbying ahead of the review. The source pointed out: “The number [of arrivals] testing positive from lower risk countries is lower than the background infection rate and everyone is struggling with the pre-departure testing. Sourcing and taking the pre-departure test freaks everyone out.
“Advance information is hard to find and everyone is anxious about testing positive.”
The industry will urge the government “to get rid of pre-departure tests for vaccinated travellers” and call for removing all tests for travellers from green destinations.
The source argued: “Make green for ‘go’ and remove pre-departure tests where possible and the traffic light system would make more sense. The public could get their heads around that.”
At the moment, the source insisted: “It’s a complex process and it’s not communicated well. We have a chance to get simplicity into the system. The government said this would be a progressive policy. The issue is how much more progress [can we make].”
The source warned: “We’ve seen some growth in traffic, but we didn’t get the growth we could have because of the complexity and it’s going to tail off quickly. It’s going to be a hugely challenging winter.”
That view was borne out by a second source who suggested some flights to Ibiza last weekend “were not even half full”. Flights by major UK airlines from one regional airport on Saturday had just 31% of seats filled in one case and 40% in another – remarkably low figures in the week of the August bank holiday.
Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the Association of Atol Companies, confirmed the difficulties saying: “The market has been poor and reports that the Caribbean could turn red aren’t helpful. There is considerable demand, but there is huge concern that if you test positive abroad you’ll have to quarantine.
“I’d like to say September will be better, but the schools are going back. The requirement to test before returning is a huge disincentive to travel.”
However, Bowen warned: “I’m not sure the government will simplify it. Polls show a majority would like UK borders to remain closed.”