The government of the United Kingdom yesterday shared that from May 17th, 12 countries will be on England’s green travel list. Subsequently, Wizz Air has announced that it is restarting flights to five destinations on the same date. It is proud to share that flights to Faro, Lisbon, Larnaca, Reykjavik, and Gibraltar will commence this month.
Opening up the skies
Travel for tourism has been banned for those in the UK since the turn of the year. However, authorities are slowly opening things up again this month with a three-tier traffic light system. Those flying into England from these green list countries won’t need to quarantine on arrival to the country. They just need to take a pre-departure test up to 72 hours before flying in, and a single PCR test on or before day two of arrival.
The countries on this list are the following:
- Gibraltar
- Israel
- Portugal
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Brunei
- Iceland
- Faroe Islands
- Tristan Da Cunha
- St Helena
- Ascension
- Falkland Islands
- Singapore
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
So, it’s not a surprise that four of the five relaunches are to destinations in countries on this list. Interestingly, Wizz Air UK states that Larnaca is one of the destinations on the green list that the airline is serving again. However, according to the UK government’s website, Cyprus is in the amber tier. Passengers flying in from amber countries must take a second PCR test on day eight and quarantine at home for ten days. Moreover, if they take a third negative test on day five, the quarantine process can be finished earlier.
Brighter prospects
Owain Jones, MD of Wizz Air UK, has previously spoken with Simple Flying about his company’s ambitions. Today, he shares his excitement about travel opening up again.
“The Wizz Air team welcomes the announcement from the UK government on the green list countries for the restart of international travel. At WIZZ, we are prepared to ramp up operations quickly when restrictions ease, with the recent delivery of four brand new A321neo aircraft and the expansion of our UK network,” Jones said in the a company statement.
“In the past year alone, we have launched over 20 new routes to Europe and beyond, providing affordable airfares to exciting destinations. We are looking forward to welcoming passengers back on board our young, green aircraft, where they can rely on our stringent health and hygiene measures and excellent service as they head to their post lockdown getaway.”
Additional hurdles to overcome
Despite the buzz around these services, Wizz Air UK may have been expecting more from the government’s update. The airline’s summer sale included flights to several leisure destinations across Europe. Notably, there were new routes launched to destinations across Bulgaria, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. Then, following the national announcement a few months ago that travel could reopen from May 17th, there was a surge in bookings.
Jones previously highlighted Wizz Air UK’s high capacity to the likes of Spain and Greece to Simple Flying. So, there is still a lot to be desired when it comes to transporting more passengers across the wider network. However, the government has hinted that additional popular spots may be added to the green list after reviews every three weeks. So, there is further hope.
Nonetheless, this week’s announcements are a saving grace for UK’s low-cost carriers. There were murmurs that the reopening of travel may be pushed back even further. Therefore, this news at least gets the ball rolling again for the recovery process to begin.
What are your thoughts about Wizz Air UK’s flight resumptions? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
