Yahoo Finance Ryanair ‘to begin legal action over travel traffic light system’
Ryanair is preparing to launch legal action with the owner of Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports against the Government over its international travel traffic light system.
The risk-based system with red, amber and green ratings for different countries, determines the quarantine and coronavirus testing requirements people face when returning to the UK.
The legal action to be brought by Ryanair and the Manchester Airport Group will call for more transparency over how Whitehall decides which countries qualify for the green list, the BBC said.
The court papers will argue that the British government should clearly explain how it makes decisions on categorising countries, given the “dramatic” impact these decisions have on the aviation industry.
“The current opaque way that decisions are being made is undermining consumer confidence to book summer holidays and makes it impossible for airports, airlines and other travel companies to plan for the recovery of international travel,” the companies said in a statement to Reuters.
An industry body warned on June 9 the “failed and damaging” system for international travel must be abandoned if the UK travel and tourism sector is to be saved from total collapse.
The London-based World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) said the Government must scrap the system, which has “wreaked havoc” among consumers and businesses, in order to save hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said the “stop, go, stop, go approach to travel is bonkers”.
He told Sky News: “It’s typical of Boris Johnson’s Government, just making this stuff up as they go along.
“There is no green list.
“What we keep calling for in the travel industry is, now that we have 80 per cent of the adult population of Britain vaccinated, why can’t those people go on holidays to Portugal and Spain without restrictions? They’re already vaccinated.”
It comes as officials consider proposals that could allow fully vaccinated Britons to avoid having to quarantine when returning from countries on the amber list.
A government spokeswoman confirmed work had begun to “consider the role of vaccinations” for inbound travel following the continued success of the vaccine rollout.
This could mean the return of holidays to popular summer hotspots such as Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, all currently on the UK’s amber list.
Read More
Aviation leaders prepare legal action over travel lists
UK urged to intervene in Belarus crisis over ‘human rights violations’
Ryanair boss says diversion of flight breached ‘all aviation rules’
Closing the digital skills gap is key to unlocking London’s recovery
