Singapore, Hong Kong, US likely to be added to Britain’s holiday green list, Heathrow airport chief says

John Holland-Kaye said he expects the UK government to unveil the details as early as the end of next week
Australia, New Zealand, Israel and some Caribbean destinations are likely to feature on the list

Coronavirus pandemic

Bloomberg

Published: 9:48pm, 29 Apr 2021

Why you can trust SCMP

Britain could restart leisure travel with the US next month as part of a plan to reopen its borders, according to the head of London’s Heathrow airport.

Progress on Covid-19 vaccinations in the two countries could allow the US to be included on the so-called green list of countries from which people will be able to travel to the UK without quarantine, Heathrow Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye said in an interview on Thursday.

Locations likely to feature on the list include Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Iceland, plus some Caribbean destinations, the CEO said. Heathrow has been in constant communication with the government over the impact of the pandemic as well as plans for a resumption in travel.

A restart of US services would come as a huge boost for Heathrow, which relies on the market for 20 per cent of its traffic.

The airport, Europe’s busiest before the pandemic, said passenger numbers remained stuck at just 9 per cent of usual levels in the first quarter as current curbs limit operations at carriers such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd.

Holland-Kaye said he expects Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to publish the green list of places from which people can travel to Britain without quarantining as early as the end of next week.

The government has targeted a reopening of travel as soon as May 17, though it’s not clear to airlines how extensive it will be because the category list hasn’t been released.

Travel bubble: Singaporeans offer tips on what Hong Kong visitors can do

Arrivals from places marked green will still require a minimum of two Covid-19 tests, but those listed as amber or red will also face quarantines.

Some short-haul leisure destinations could be green-listed, but most likely only to island sunspots such as Spain’s Balearics and Canaries, Holland-Kaye said. Mainland Spain and Greece may not feature until June and July respectively.

The UK will confirm by early May if international travel can resume on May 17, and which countries will fall into each category, a Department for Transport spokesman said in an email.

06:18

SCMP Explains: What’s in a Covid-19 vaccine?

While a full deal with the US might be difficult to reach in time for the mid-May target, a unilateral reopening could allow Americans to fly into the country for business and leisure trips, Holland-Kaye said. In this scenario, Britons seeking to go to the US would have to wait for the Biden administration to reciprocate.

Bloomberg reported last week on bilateral talks between the US and UK transport secretaries on a potential travel corridor.

Any concerns about high infection rates in some US states should dissipate by the end of next month as inoculations make further progress there, Holland-Kaye said, so that the UK “should be comfortable that the US is a low-risk country”.

That would allow a full opening of transatlantic travel in time for the main holiday period starting in June. The European Union, which is behind the US and UK in vaccinations, is also rushing to get a system in place that will allow for cross-border travel.

Heathrow said earlier that it may attract only 13 million passengers this year if travel markets aren’t reopened, increasing to 36 million in a best-case scenario. The hub lured 81 million travellers in 2019, a figure that fell to 22 million last year.