Virgin Atlantic is urging the reopening of UK and US borders to enable vital transatlantic flights to resume. The call came exactly a year since the US closed its borders to UK and Irish citizens and the week that the airline secured £160 million in additional funding in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. North Atlantic routes represented around 70% of …

Customer confidence in travelling overseas this summer has returned strongly, according to Jet2 and Jet2holidays. The UK’s second largest travel and airline group predicted “sunnier skies” ahead as it marked a year since the government first advised against all non-essential travel overseas in response to the Covid crisis. Travel confidence has returned strongly over the past several weeks on the …

Ryanair is extending its zero flight change fee for all customers who book before June 30. Passengers can move their travel dates twice at no cost until the end of October. The move comes as the budget carrier looks to encourage summer flight bookings in the expectation of travel restrictions starting to relax as vaccination programmes accelerate throughout Europe. Marketing director …

With UK travellers welcome in Greece from mid-May, demand for summer holidays has spiked. Ryanair hopes to meet that demand, and announced three new Greece routes set to begin on 1 July, as well as extra frequencies on other sunshine routes to Greece. The budget airline is launching flights from Stansted Airport to Santorini, Zakynthos and Preveza It has also …

Ryanair has officially launched its Covid-19 Travel Wallet, where customers can upload details of Covid documents such as negative PCR tests, vaccination certificates. The budget carrier, which has already said it would roll out such a system, said the wallet is only available in the Ryanair app. The UK government’s Global Travel Taskforce is discussing whether a form of health certification …

UK cruise lines will be able to restart domestic sailings on May 17, maritime minister Robert Courts has told a group of MPs. The disclosure came as he appeared at a virtual meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group (APPMPG). The group tweeted: **NEWS** Maritime Minister @robertcourts announces the reopening of the domestic #cruise market in England …

The boss of Melia Hotels International has backed plans to create safe travel corridors between the UK and Spain. Gabriel Escarrer, executive vice chairman and chief executive of Spain’s largest hotel company, called for destinations and source markets share “consistently thorough” security standards and controls. He argued that travel restrictions have been enforced without any scientific basis, adding: “We know …

The industry can be optimistic travel will restart from May 17 and travel agents and operators confident to take bookings on that basis so long as arrangements are protected. That is the view of Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer, who suggested the caution of ministers and health officials about booking overseas summer holidays need not mean the earliest date for …

Low-cost airline Ryanair will return to Belfast City Airport this summer after an absence of 11 years. It has launched eight routes for summer 2021 connecting Belfast to popular summer destinations in Spain, Portugal and Italy. Travellers can book flights to Malaga, Mallorca, Faro, Alicante, Barcelona, Ibiza, Milan, Bergamo and Valencia. The airline said: “The UK’s highly successful rollout of …

Transport operators will be required to provide passengers travelling to and from England with details of the government’s stay-at-home restrictions from Monday (8th March). Passengers travelling by sea, air or rail to or from outside the Common Travel Area (including the UK and Ireland) will face a £200 fine if they do not provide evidence of their exemption from current …

The government insists it is “leading” the way on the restart of travel in Europe and dismissed a suggestion that its Global Travel Taskforce is “a talking shop”. But aviation minister Robert Courts confirmed travel will only resume “as soon as possible after” May 17. Courts told MPs: “I can’t give you a blow by blow account of where we …

Travel and tourism firm TUI has announced it is cancelling all holidays from the UK until mid-May amid ongoing coronavirus restriction across the country. The news comes as leaders of the devolved nations begin plans to lead the UK out of lockdown. Under current plans, 17 May is being targeted as the earliest possible date for foreign travel to resume, subject to a …