‘Green should be green’ – easyJet boss demands end to restrictions to low-risk countries

Britain’s biggest budget airline has announced new winter sun routes from the UK

New horizons: easyJet has announced 10 more routes from the UK for winter 2021-22 (easyJet)

The boss of easyJet has demanded an end to travel restrictions from low-risk countries.

While the UK has by far the highest infection rates for any major country in Europe, arrivals from “green list” destinations such as Croatia, Malta and Madeira are required to take multiple tests costing around £100 per person.

At an earnings call to accompany easyJet’s third-quarter update, the chief executive, Johan Lundgren, called for the complex system of testing to be scrapped.

“Green should be green,” he said. “That’s the whole point of green. You should be able to travel to and from low-risk destinations that have significantly less cases of infection, where there are no variants of concern.

“There should not need to be any restrictions in place. That is exactly the view that many European countries have taken.”

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, backed the easyJet chief’s view.

She told The Independent: “The traffic light framework is broken, made unnecessarily complex, unsustainable, restrictive and unfair for the British consumer and the travel industry.”

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said in the second Global Travel Taskforce report: “This country is already a leader in establishing a framework for sustained safe international travel, and we will continue to work with other governments to realise this goal.”

Coinciding with the easyJet earnings news, Britain’s biggest budget airline has launched a raft of new links for the winter.

The airline schedule analyst, Sean Moulton, has counted 10 new additions for the UK, including flights from Luton to Agadir in Morocco and Bristol to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt – currently on the UK’s red list.

Mr Moulton said: “The expansion of the winter sun market suggests an increase in demand forecast for this winter.

“This isn’t too surprising given the lack of travel over the last 18 months; however, it will all depend on the ‘travel corridors’.

“The airline additionally is focusing on many regions, varying from the Canary Islands to Morocco to Egypt.

“This suggests versatility, but will all depend if people are confident of travelling.”

Britain’s biggest budget airline made a headline loss before tax of £318m between April and June. For the first half of the quarter, international leisure travel from the UK was illegal.