Ryanair boss calls for open travel to all EU countries
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has urged the government to open up travel to all EU countries to enable Brits to enjoy restriction-free summer holidays abroad.
The budget airline chief called on transport minister Grant Shapps to ease international travel rules within the bloc for anyone who has been fully vaccinated at the next review of the green list due this week.
O’Leary also said ministers should scrap the “nonsensical” requirement of negative PCR Covid tests when returning from EU countries, saying they added cost and stress to travellers despite the low risk.
“The UK government must scrap the nonsensical requirement of PCR tests for those returning from low-risk green countries,” he said.
“There is no point in setting up a traffic light system if ‘green’ still requires additional measures that significantly add to the cost of a family trip.”
European holiday hotspots such as Spain, Greece and Italy have already opened their doors to British holidaymakers. However, they remain on the UK’s amber list, meaning visitors must quarantine on return.
Ryanair said that despite the uncertainty over amber list countries, hundreds of thousands of Brits had already booked trips in June, July and August.
Thousands of families have already descended on Lisbon, the Algarve and Porto since Portugal was added to the green list last month.
More than 25m people in the UK have now had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine — just under half the adult population.
However, concerns are mounting over the rapid spread of the Indian variant of the virus, with scientists warning that the final stage of lockdown lifting on 21 June should be delayed.