Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, commented:
“We are absolutely committed to a safe restart and are confident this can happen while protecting both the UK health system and the success of the vaccine programme.
“The decision to put so few European countries into the Green tier is simply not justified by the data or the science and is inconsistent with the approach to reopen the domestic economy.
“We have shown that unrestricted travel to much of Europe is safe and would carry very little risk for the NHS. And with European governments starting to allow their citizens to travel restriction-free if vaccinated, UK citizens risk being left behind and unable to get the best rates for hotels as they will be booked up by European tourists.
“This decision means that so many people will continue to be unable to see their families and loved ones, develop their businesses or go on a much-needed holiday abroad.
“So, we call on government to provide transparency on decision-making and clarity on when we can expect other European countries to join the Green list so that consumers and airlines alike can plan for this summer. In the meantime, they must drive down the cost of testing and review and remove testing for Green, low risk countries. Green really should mean Green.
“Now, as easyJet is the biggest operator from the UK to the European countries which are currently on the Green list, we will be increasing our flights to these destinations and launching new routes where we can in order to take as many customers away as possible – we are ready and able to ramp up.
“We also expect the number of countries on the Green list to grow next month to include many of our popular summer destinations and we have flexible policies so customers can book with confidence and change their plans if they need to.”
ENDS
