The cost of flights to Portugal have today surged by up to 25 per cent after it was confirmed the holiday hotspot will be on the travel ‘green list’ from May 17.
Eager Britons rushed to book last minute getaways after a handful of quarantine-free destinations were unveiled by Grant Shapps at a Downing Street briefing tonight.
Among the 12-strong list was Portugal, which was widely tipped for the ‘green list’.
However, would-be travellers appear to have waited for confirmation before booking flights to the popular destination and shortly after the announcement tonight, flights to Lisbon soared by 25 per cent.
Holidaymakers could have paid £264 at 12pm today for a return ticket from London Heathrow to Lisbon on May 17 and May 24.
But in the minutes after Mr Shapps’ announcement prices skyrocketed by £68 – with holidaymakers forced to fork out £332 for the same flights.
Similar leaps were seen in the cost of flights to other green list destinations, with a flight to Gibraltar jumping from £49 at 12pm today to £134 at 6pm, according to Skyscanner.net.
Carvoeiro village in Algarve, Portugal. Eager British holidaymakers rushed to book last minute getaways after the handful of quarantine-free destinations were unveiled by Grant Shapps at a Downing Street briefing tonight
In the minutes after Mr Shapps’ announcement prices skyrocketed by £55 – with holidaymakers forced to fork out £332 for the same flight that cost £264 at 12pm
And the price of a flight to TelAviv in Israel, £252 at 12pm today, rose by £38 after Mr Shapps’ announcement.
Daily bookings on Skyscanner in the UK for travel to Portugal have increased by 118 per cent since the start of May, a spokesman for the website revealed.
Martin Nolan, a Skyscanner Traveller expert, said: ‘This is such welcome news for our travellers who have been eager to get back out into the world. It is fantastic to see the advances destinations have made regarding traveller safety have enabled popular destinations such as Portugal and Gibraltar to be back on the agenda for summer.
‘Travellers will of course be delighted with the news of possible international travel, not just for holidays and leisure travel, but also for those who will now be able to travel to be reunited with loved ones abroad.
‘We have seen travellers willing to adapt to the new measures quickly and positively, as long as it means they can get away safely and within the guidelines, so we expect to see a busy weekend of bookings ahead.’
Tourists sunbathing in Praia do Camilo, Lagos, Faro district, Algarve, Portugal
Grant Shapps unveiled his long-awaited ‘green list’ at a Downing Street briefing tonight, insisting we must make ‘absolutely sure’ that the countries we reconnect with are ‘safe’
British Airways said it would be laying on additional flights to Portugal following the announcement foreign travel can resume to some destinations later this month, but added it was disappointed with restrictions for amber countries.
Chairman and CEO Sean Doyle said: ‘We’re pleased that our customers are able to start travelling again to some countries, including Portugal, and we’ve put on additional flights from London, Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh to Faro to help people get moving.
‘What’s clear is that with high levels of vaccination in the UK being matched by other countries, we should see more destinations going ‘green’ before the end of June.
‘It’s disappointing to hear that despite the stringent safeguards introduced for travel from ‘amber list’ countries, the Government is now suggesting travellers avoid these.
The countries on the ‘green list’ from May 17 are: Portugal including the Azores and Madeira; Australia; New Zealand; Singapore; Brunei; Iceland; the Faroe Islands; Gibraltar; the Falkland Islands; and Israel
‘We cannot stress more greatly that the UK urgently needs travel between it and other low-risk countries, like the US, to restart the economy, support devastated industries and reunite loved ones.’
While Britons are clear to travel to green list countries, amber destinations still require up to 10 days self isolation at home and red destinations require 10 days of isolation in a Government approved hotel at a cost of £1,750.
The green listed destinations announced tonight includes Gibraltar, Israel, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Buy now pay later travel agency Butter found green tier destinations cost 35 per cent more than their red and amber counterparts.
Timothy Davis, Co-Founder and CEO of Butter, said: ‘Holidaymakers will now be climbing over each other to book a trip away to a green tier destination this summer, having not been able to take a proper holiday in quite some time.’
Mr Shapps tonight warned that ‘green list’ destinations will remain on a ‘watch list’ as he reserved the right to take them off again if there is a spike in local infections.
He added the plan was ‘necessarily cautious’, saying: ‘We must make sure that the countries we reconnect with are safe.’
The countries on the ‘green list’ from May 17 are: Portugal including the Azores and Madeira; Australia; New Zealand; Singapore; Brunei; Iceland; the Faroe Islands; Gibraltar; the Falkland Islands; and Israel.
But two of those countries, Australia and New Zealand, will not currently allow British visitors to enter.
There was a blow for football fans as Turkey was added to the red list just weeks before Manchester City and Chelsea battle out he Champions League final in Istanbul.
The Maldives and Nepal have also been added to the red list.
People returning from those countries after 4am on Wednesday will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 nights at a cost of £1,750 for solo travellers.
Mr Shapps tonight confirmed that France, Spain and Greece, three top holiday destinations for Britons, were not yet ready to make the ‘green list’ on the new traffic light system that is being introduced.
He added that travellers were ‘crucial’ to rebuilding the UK’s economy following months in lockdown.
‘We want a summer in which, with the help of vaccines and testing, we can reunite family and friends, and travel to places we love,’ he said. ‘We want to start looking outward again. Whilst Covid has isolated us, travel unites us.’
He added: ‘Travellers are, of course, also absolutely crucial to rebuilding our economy, bringing long-awaited relief to hard-hit airlines, airports, the tourism sector, which taxpayers have spent £7 billion in supporting.’
The DfT also announced that from May 17, people who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be able to use the NHS app to demonstrate their status.
People who do not have the app will be able to request an NHS letter from that date.
Mr Shapps said travellers should not book holidays that do not include a refund policy if the country’s Covid situation changes.
Mr Shapps tonight confirmed that France, Spain and Greece, three top holiday destinations for Britons, were not yet ready to make the ‘green list’ on the new traffic light system that is being introduced
Gibraltar, the British territory in the western Mediterranean, was on the green list
The Transport Secretary said: ‘Green list countries will be placed on a watch list.
‘If we start to have any concerns, and if it is necessary because of a new upswing in cases or a new variant, we will not hesitate to act fast and withdraw green status.’
He added: ‘Our strong advice is not to book any holiday which does not include a refund in the event that the Covid-related situation changes and you’re able to cancel.
‘I’m afraid we do expect longer delays at airports.’
Speaking tonight, Border Force director general Paul Lincoln warned that wait times to enter the UK were likely to take longer than usual as the country switches to a traffic light system for international travel.
He said: ‘Unfortunately we are not back to normality yet.
‘Travel will be different and, as the Transport Secretary says, we still need to be cautious.
‘There will continue to be additional health checks for every person crossing our border and inevitably that means it will take longer for most people to enter the UK.
‘These measures have been put in place to protect the hard-fought gains and sacrifices that have been made by individuals and society in the UK, minimising the risk of importing variants while protecting the success of our vaccine rollout.’
Heathrow Airport’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye said the Government must ‘urgently address the unacceptable situation’ at the UK border, adding: ‘Long immigration queues are an inevitable result of under-resourcing, not an inevitable result of extra checks.’