Will Portugal ‘air bridge’ save holidays this summer?
BRITISH officials are in talks with Portuguese counterparts about a possible ‘air bridge’ deal in a bid to save summer holidays.
Plans being discussed include securing an air corridor for tourists that would allow UK holidaymakers to avoid having to quarantine for two weeks upon their return.
Talks are also continuing with other countries where there are similar or lower levels of coronavirus cases, including with France.
The boss of Heathrow Airport has warned ministers that they have just weeks to save the summer holidays. Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said Britain must strike agreements with other lowrisk countries so travellers do not have to quarantine when they get home.
From June 8, the majority of passengers arriving in the UK will have to self-isolate for two weeks, a move that will make holidays all but impossible.
If a solution to the quarantine problem is not found by the second fortnight of July, the holiday season will be gone, according to Mr Holland-Kaye.
The airport is trialling heat sensors and it is also considering whether sniffer dogs could be used to detect the virus, on the advice of Prince Charles.
But if the number of Covid-19 infections continues to fall, then families should be able to travel abroad from July, Mr HollandKaye said.
The Treasury and the Department of Transport are said to be keen on the ‘air bridge’ idea as a way of kick-starting tourism and saving hundreds of thousands of jobs. Agreements with popular destination countries, where infection rates are low, will allow citizens to travel freely without having to submit to quarantine when they return.
The deal is likely to apply to destinations such as Greece, Spain and Italy, whose econois face ruin if the summer holiday season is cancelled.
On Tuesday, Spain confirmed tourists can visit from July 1. Greece hopes to welcome foreign tourists from June 15, but Britons could be blocked due to the UK’s relatively high infection rate.
Mr Holland-Kaye said: ‘There
‘This idea can kick start tourism’
no reason, if we can get the transmission rate down in this country, that we can not open up for the summer to other lowtransmission countries.
‘We can save summer holidays and also save hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on aviation.
‘For people to see German citizens going to Greece, while Brits are stuck at home, that’s going to be untenable.’
If a deal can not be struck with other countries by the end of July, then the summer holiday season will be missed due to the time it takes to bring staff back from furlough, recommission planes and sell tickets.
Mr Holland-Kaye added that by autumn, thermal scanners and antibody tests could help travellers get coronavirus passmies ports, so only healthy people board planes.
A UK Government source confirmed yesterday that talks between the UK and Portugal about an ‘air bridge’ were at an initial phase.
No policy has been agreed yet but one option could be lifting the strict two-week rules for some countries from July.
In 2019, more than 16million foreign tourists visited Portugal, almost 20 per cent of them from Britain.
Portugal’s death toll of 1,330 from Covid-19 and 30,788 total cases are low compared with Spain’s nearly 27,000 dead and over 235,000 infected.
The Portuguese foreign ministry said it had requested additional information after the British quarantine decision.