UK foreign travel curbs to stay until May 17: premier

■ Dutch hospitality sector sues govt over Covid closures

■ Germany’s Merkel proposes 3-stage plan to lift virus curbs

■ Italy extends travel curbs and eyes vaccination changes

The ban on non-essential international travel to and from England will stay until at least May 17, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday, prolonging the pain for airlines, airports and holiday companies hit by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic travel slump.

However, would-be holidaymakers will be given clarity on making plans for the summer by April 12, when a review on how to restart travel safely will be published.

“The government will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May,” it said.

Johnson told parliament that meant there was still time for Britons to plan summer holidays.

“I believe that setting a deadline of April 12 for the report ... will give people time to make their plans for summer and if things go well ... then, I do believe there is every chance of an aviation recovery later this year,” he said.

Airlines are counting on a summer recovery after close to a year with minimal revenues due to travel restrictions.

If they cannot, analysts say most airlines will need to raise more funds to survive after burning through their cash reserves.

The April review will provide recommendations about when and how full international travel should resume, while managing the risks of new variants of coronavirus.

Much will depend on the spread of variants deemed “of concern”, as well as vaccine roll-outs at home and abroad.

Britain tightened its borders earlier in February, introducing additional Covid-19 testing requirements and hotel quarantines for arrivals from some countries over worries about new variants that might be more resistant to current vaccines.

Meanwhile, the largest hospitality organisation in the Netherlands said yesterday that it is suing the government over ongoing coronavirus measures that have forced bars, cafes and restaurants shut since mid-October.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his health deputy Hugo de Jonge are expected to announce today a slight easing of a partial lockdown in the Netherlands, including the reopening of hair salons and some schools.

However, a 9pm-4.30am curfew is set to remain in place for another three weeks from early March – and an announcement on the partial reopening of hospitality’s food and drink sector was not on the cards, Dutch media reports said.

“We are very disappointed in the cabinet,” said Rober Willemsen, chairman of the Royal Horeca Netherlands hospitality group.

“We’ve tried up until the last moment to come together with a different viewpoint and formulate a strategy to see what may be possible, instead of keeping everything hermetically sealed,” he said in a statement. “The situation is hopeless and time and again, entrepreneurs in the food and catering industry are being deprived of perspective.”

The umbrella organisation, which claims to represent some 20,000 businesses and 255,000 employees, now wants judges to force government to allow hospitality businesses to reopen “as soon as possible”.

It also wants compensation for financial damages.

A court date was not announced.

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel wants a staggered, three-stage plan to lift coronavirus restrictions linked to increased testing, she told a meeting of her Christian Democrats’ leadership committee, according to two participants.

Merkel wants to reopen parts of society starting with expanding the number of personal contacts, followed by schools and vocational colleges and thirdly sports groups, restaurants and culture, according to participants.

To help reopen schools, national and regional health ministers decided yesterday to move primary school and kindergarten teachers forward in the queue for vaccines, placing them immediately after the elderly.

“Children, the young, and their parents are especially affected by lockdown,” they said in a document seen by Reuters. “Since it can be hard to ensure social distancing with young children, teachers must be protected in another way.”

Germany has extended restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus until March 7, though elementary schools and nurseries started reopening in 10 German states yesterday and hair salons are due to open their doors again next week.

In Italy, the government extended a ban on non-essential travel between the country’s 20 regions until March 27 as it looks to slow the spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants.

Officials also said the health ministry was likely to accelerate vaccination efforts by telling regions to use all available doses rather than set aside some stock for second shots.

The ban on travel between regions was introduced just before Christmas and had been due to expire on February 25, but officials fear a relaxation of restrictions could lead to a new surge in cases, driven by the socalled “British” variant.

In its first decisions on Covid-19, Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s new cabinet also extended restrictions on visiting family and friends, with no more than two adults allowed into another person’s home at the same time.

No visits are allowed in socalled red zones, where the tightest restrictions are in place.

At present, no region is classified as “red” but some provinces, towns and villages have been designated as such.