Most of Europe could’ve been considered for the UK Government’s green list back in May, according to easyJet’s CEO, Johan Lundgren. easyJet’s UK network has been heavily focused on green list destinations since the government launched the list. Lundgren made the comments speaking to Simple Flying’s Future Flying webinar series earlier today.
The UK first revealed its green list at the start of May. The list had been highly anticipated by the travel industry, who hoped it would allow a return to normality. Despite this, only one viable destination was placed onto the list, causing a flood of tourists to Portugal and not many other destinations.
Most of Europe could’ve been on the green list
easyJet, like many airlines, made use of the sudden demand to fly to Portugal. The airline upped capacity in a matter of hours, a process that usually takes seven to eight weeks. Airlines had been hoping several destinations would go green, allowing increased demand on several routes.
Instead, Portugal became the only viable holiday destination for brits who had been unable to leave the country since January. Johan Lundgren believes that more countries should’ve been on the first two iterations of the green list. He told Simple Flying,
“Most of Europe could have been on to that green list even as early here as in May.”
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However, it is not just back then that Lundgren thinks the list was too cautious. He added that most of Europe should be on the green list now given how high case numbers are in the UK,
“You could put all of Europe now onto the green list, because the level of infections is higher, much higher in the UK, than somewhere else in the Europe.”
Changing the travel game
Thankfully, the green list is set to become reasonably inconsequential for the low-cost carrier from Monday. Starting at 04:00 on August 2nd, those who have been fully vaccinated in the UK, US, and EU won’t have to quarantine when arriving from amber list countries. This will effectively make the whole of Europe (except for France, which has joined an amber plus list) a green country for many travelers.
Despite this, passengers traveling from such countries will still need to take a day two PCR test. Lundgren argued that these were expensive and unnecessary. Lundgren called for a laminar flow test to be accepted in the United Kingdom, as is the case in many European countries, where Lundgren pointed out that the local government pays for such tests.
Do you think that the UK placed enough countries on the green list? Let us know what you think and why in the comments below!
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