Airfares soar ahead of Portugal amber list deadline as flights sell out

Holidaymakers were given 108 hours’ notice

Holidaymakers are racing home from Portugal (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Flights are selling for more than £540 per person from Portugal to the UK after the country was downgraded to the amber list in the latest travel traffic light review.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps yesterday announced that the Atlantic nation, the only mainstream holiday destination on the no-quarantine list, would be plunged into amber - meaning 10 days of self-isolation and two PCR tests for all arrivals entering the UK.

Holidaymakers enjoying a half-term break were given just 108 hours’ notice of the impending changes, which come into effect from 4am on 8 June.

As a result, ticket prices for flights home before the deadline spiked, with some flights completely sold out.

Research by The Independent shows that an outbound fare from Faro, in the popular Algarve, to London City airport on British Airways, touching down at 2.15pm on Monday, is £545. The same flight on Tuesday, which lands after the deadline, is £120.

On the 1.15pm service to London Heathrow, there are just business class flights available, priced at £780 per person.

The British flag carrier said it would operate more flights to help holidaymakers get home before the deadline.

Elsewhere, Portugal’s national carrier TAP is charging £345 for a Lisbon to Manchester flight on Monday.

Meanwhile, all Ryanair flights from Faro to London Stansted on Sunday and Monday have sold out. There are a handful of seats left on Saturday 5 June, and tickets are changing hands for upwards of £185 each.

All seats from Faro to London Stansted are sold out on Sunday and Monday (Ryanair)

The cheapest flights home from Portugal include a stop in either Madrid (with Iberia) or Amsterdam (with KLM), but these options would require travellers to self-isolate for 10 days regardless as they touch down in an amber-rated country.

The cheapest direct flight from Faro is on Wizz Air to London Luton, for £137pp. However, this is a hand baggage-only fare, and passengers are permitted to take just a small carry-on handbag.

Arrivals into the UK after the deadline will also need to organise an extra PCR test on day eight, which costs, on average, around £120.

Tui, the UK’s largest tour operator, said it has 9,500 customers in Portugal but that number was already due to have fallen to 2,000 by Tuesday because of the end of half-term for schoolchildren.

A spokeswoman told the PA news agency that half its customers with Portugal bookings for June have amended their trip - mostly until summer 2022 - while the other half plan to go ahead despite the quarantine rules.

“There is a lot of bewilderment and real frustration and confusion about what is happening,” she added.

The firm is allowing customers to change their holiday dates in response to Portugal moving to the amber list, but is not offering refunds as the Foreign Office does not advise against non-essential travel to the country.

Additional reporting by agencies