Australia-UK flights ‘by November’, says industry chief

That's all from us today. Here's a recap of the top stories.

• Airlines giving out ‘incorrect Covid testing information’ to passengers
• PCR test experience for some travellers 'just not good enough', says regulator
• Jet2 restarts European city breaks 
• Vietnam to welcome fully vaccinated visitors in pilot scheme
• Mauritius lifts South Africa travel ban

Join us on Monday for more of the latest travel news. 

Greece has introduced tough penalties for the issuing of fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates. 

It comes after a worker at a state vaccination centre was suspended for allegedly helping several dozen people acquire bogus versions of the documents.

Thanos Plevris, the country's health minister, said on Friday that parliament had approved a legislative amendment to impose fines of 5,000 euros for each vaccination, recovery, or test certificate issued under false pretenses.

Private health facilities found to have issued fake Covid-19 documents could be fined up to 50,000 euros.

"People planning to commit these acts should know that they will be fired, they may face criminal prosecution, and they will have to pay a lot of money," Plevris told state ERT TV.

Read more on our coronavirus live blog.

The president of the Scottish Passenger Agents Association (SPAA), Joanne Dooey is “confident” that  travel restrictions will loosen after the much-anticipated Global Travel Taskforce review on October 1. 

She said: “I do think there will be changes to the restrictions that are in place for green countries. I am confident that more things will happen.

“Hopefully, we’ll scrap the traffic light system, because it’s not worked at all. It has been a barrier, and people are just not confident in booking to go anywhere that’s amber in case it goes red.”

The Government should scrap its travel testing regime now to stop leaving holidaymakers "at the mercy of a dysfunctional private testing market" with "rip-off prices", the airline trade body has said. 

Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, said ministers were "not even using PCR testing for the purpose it was intended – genomic sequencing – so it offers nothing for public health whilst costing passengers millions of pounds". 

“Countries like France and Spain have recovered much faster by looking at the science and removing expensive and burdensome PCR testing for the fully jabbed," he added. 

Swapping big ticket events for holidays based around smaller community gatherings is an easy way to fall in love with new destinations, writes Anna Hart. 

For most of my life, I assessed the attractions of any festival or global event based on how big they were. At 16, I assumed that bigger was better when it comes to festivals; the bigger the headline band and the bigger the field, the bigger my bragging rights were in the classroom. My first independent travel experiences, as a music-obsessed teenager, were Megabus pilgrimages to big-budget festivals with big-name acts and big crowds such as Reading, Bestival and Glastonbury. More recently, the Chelsea Flower Show, the Edinburgh Festival, the Rio Carnival… they all found a place on my list-for-life purely because of their size and global acclaim. 

But anyone who has been to Venice for the Biennale, New Orleans for the Jazz Fest or Monaco for the Grand Prix knows that these large-scale events and festivals resemble expeditions more than holidays. This summer, with social gatherings and arts events back on the menu, amid much tedious talk about capacity, ventilation, international attendees and social distancing, we are forced to re-evaluate how we view mass gatherings. And our travel experiences might just be the richer for it.

Read on, here.

With a week to go until the next expected travel update from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps there’s hope that the traffic light system for travel could be scrapped, under plans to simplify holidays.

Officials have been told to develop a new system based on the vaccination status of travellers rather than the Covid rating of the country they are visiting – this likely means the amber and green lists will disappear.

However it is expected that the red list will remain to prevent the spread of variants of concern from countries deemed as ‘high risk’, with travellers still required to quarantine in hotels on returning from the 62 high-risk destinations.

Here we take a look at the most popular holiday destinations on the red list, and assess which (if any) could move to the amber list at the next travel review.

Princess Cruises has announced that all passengers departing from Southampton this year must show proof of full vaccination. 

Earlier in the summer, the company said that passengers must be vaccinated for early autumn sailings.

A spokesperson for the cruise line said: “The health and safety of our crew and guests remains our top priority and following a careful review of the current situation with the global pandemic we have decided to continue our policy of requiring all guests to be fully vaccinated.

“The policy will apply to the remainder of our cruises departing from Southampton in 2021.”

It's been 60 years since Hemingway's passing, and this hotel is still just as fabulous, writes Anne Hanley.

"'That's the hotel where we're stopping at, Jackson,'" says Richard Cantwell, the gruff, battle-scarred hero of Ernest Hemingway's Across the River and Into the Trees. With his military driver, the officer is on a boat on the Grand Canal, pulling up to the dock of the Gritti Palace Hotel.

"The Colonel indicated the three story, rose coloured, small, pleasant place abutting on the Canal. [...] It was probably the best hotel, if you did not wish to be fawned on, or fussed over, or over-flunkied, in a city of great hotels, and the Colonel loved it."

For 'the Colonel', it would be easy enough to substitute 'Hemingway': in all his visits to the lagoon city, the author made this Venetian classic his base. He had his favourite room, his favourite table in the restaurant overlooking the Grand Canal, his favourites on the restaurant's menu and a host of adoring staff members who may not have over-flunkied but who indulged his every whim – for privacy, and for being at the centre of attention.

Read the full story.

Mauritius has announced it has finally lifted its travel ban on South Africa, which has been in place since the start of the pandemic.

Travellers from South Africa can now visit Mauritius though will still be subject to some restrictions. However from October 1, fully vaccinated arrivals will be allowed to stay at any hotel, resort or accommodation of their choice and move freely around the island.  Unvaccinated travellers must undergo 14 days quarantine in a state designated quarantine facility.

Arvind Bundhun, Director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), said: “We welcome the decision by the Mauritian government. South Africa remains a proximity and priority market for tourism on the island. We are delighted that we will be able to restart our long-standing relationship after an 18-month ban on travel.”  

Denmark's 'return to normal', is being heralded by by travel companies such as Expedia who say UK holidaymakers are eager to visit the country. 

Today, Denmark has become one of the first EU countries to drop all domestic Covid restrictions after vaccination rates exceeded 80 per cent. 

A spokesperson for Expedia said:

“This is welcome news for UK travellers who have been eager to explore Denmark with quarantine free travel and immerse in the Danish culture with ease. Autumn is a fantastic time to experience the natural beauty of many cities such as Copenhagen and the attractions available in the capital, including the picturesque Nyhavn Harbor, the iconic “Little Mermaid” statue, and Tivoli Gardens.  

"To ensure our holidaymakers are aware of the most up-to-date travel requirements for an upcoming trip to Denmark, we have resources in place through our Travel Advisory Site to support the entire traveller journey and help those plan their trips with ease.”

Not only is the system divorced from logic – it is also driving the impoverishment of the global tourist trade, writes Professor Livermore. 

Imported cases add little to the UK burden, so high prevalence alone is no justification to red-list a country. Prevalence changes too. India joined the list at the peak of its May delta wave, but its case numbers are 90 per cent lower now.  COP26-hosting Glasgow’s rate – 1,046 cases per 100,000 population in the week to September 2 – exceeds that of red-listed Montenegro, at around 700 per 100,000.    

How about excluding dangerous variants? India was listed not only due to case numbers, but also owing to its proliferating delta strain. Nowadays, delta accounts for almost all UK cases, so there is little sense fretting about further import. 

African countries were added because they host the beta variant. A small South African trial suggested that this evaded the Astra-Zeneca vaccine but this fear is belied by Canadian data, showing that the AZ vaccine does prevent severe disease from this variant. What’s more, beta has declined across southern Africa, displaced by delta. And despite repeated introduction, beta has not spread in the UK’s AZ-vaccinated population.

Read the full story. 

President Biden has issued an order to double fines for passengers not wearing face coverings on planes. The measure would also apply to those at airports. 

When announcing the new rules, President Biden said: "If you break the rules, be prepared to pay.

"And by the way, show some respect. The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their job is wrong. It's ugly," he added.

However, commentators have noted that the announcement is largely symbolic as few of these fines, which start at $250,  have actually been imposed. 

Green and amber traffic light ratings could be scrapped next month, but before that we'll have a review of the current categories next week. 

Here is how things currently stand. 

France has moved the US and Israel from its green to its amber list, effectively prohibiting unvaccinated visitors from the two countries.

From now on, non-jabbed travellers can enter France for essential reasons only and must quarantine for seven days on arrival.

This follows the European Union's decision to remove the US and Israel from its 'white list' of countries two weeks ago in response to spiking infection rates. 

Here's a look at the cases there...

After a summer of travel chaos, many families are desperate to get away over the autumn break, but will working fathers be able to make it? – poses Judith Woods. She writes:

We’ve not been abroad as a family since 2018; Rome, autumn half term as it happens. So I totally understand that the hopes and dreams of the nation are now pinned on a perfect week’s holiday next month to make up for all the chaos and disappointment. No pressure then.

Frankly, there’s more riding on those seven days than the St Leger, and let’s face it, the odds aren’t great, given the rumoured “Covid firebreak”. If infections are shown to have risen too steeply after the return to school, then half term would be extended from one to two weeks. Of course the Government insists this would be an absolute last resort, but the farrago surrounding the cancellation of Christmas last year is a reminder that contingency plans are there for a reason.

Aside from being a crushing blow to pupils and parents – especially those who have no more annual leave to take and must somehow juggle childcare – it would put a huge question mark over travel.

Read the full comment here.

Buying a PCR test in Britain for travel abroad "is a lottery", the competition regulator has warned. 

Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, said:

From complaints about dodgy pricing practices, to unfair terms, to failure to provide tests on time or at all, to problems with getting refunds, the experience for some is just not good enough.

Recent weeks have underlined that we will not hesitate to take action against any PCR test provider we suspect is breaking the law and exploiting their customers.

However, competition alone will not do the job, even when backed by enforcement of consumer law. The PCR testing market is unusual because its key features are dictated by Government policy decisions to fight the pandemic.

For once the Italian capital is embracing slow tourism, with usually off-limits attractions now open to the general public, writes Julia Buckley.

The rooftop terrace of the Hassler hotel is usually one of the most exclusive places to be in Rome. It’s reserved for clients of the five-star hotel, where rooms cost upwards of £750 a night, so it’s normally only the wealthiest visitors who get the chance to see its 180-degree views of the Eternal City, or peep into the cloister attached to Trinità dei Monti, that famous twin-towered church at the top of the Spanish Steps. 

For more than a century, the Wirth family have made this hotel one of the most exclusive enclaves of Rome. Everyone from Audrey Hepburn and Tom Cruise to Diana, Princess of Wales and the Kennedys have stayed here. It is to protect the privacy of these sorts of guests that it remains exclusive… until now. This summer, for the first time in history, they opened it up to the public.

Read the full story.

Kenya's economy has shrunk for the first time since 1992 amid continuing Covid restrictions. 

AFP reports that the country's GDP dropped by 0.3 per cent last year, after growing 5 per cent in 2019. Around 740,000 people are thought to have lost their jobs as a result of the economic downturn.

The tourism sector was particularly hard hit, with a drop in revenue of 44 per cent. Visitor numbers fell by 70 per cent last year. 

Swathes of east and southern Africa remain on the UK Government's red list, meaning arrivals must spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel at a cost of £2,285.

The UK competition regulator has warned there is a "race for the bottom" in the PCR testing market which could see travellers lose out.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has advised that the Government should create a one-stop shop list of "approved test providers by significantly improving the basic standards to qualify for inclusion and remaining on the gov.uk list".

It also called for a more comprehensive monitoring and enforcement programme to ensure test providers meet the Government's standards and receive swift sanctions for failings.

Easyjet has discounted more than one million seats as part of its autumn sale, which launched today.

The budget airline is slashing prices by 20 per cent for flight bookings made by September 14. The sale covers more than 72,000 flights to and from the UK between October 2021 and September 2022.

Ali Gayward, UK country manager, said:

“We are really pleased to be putting on our flights for autumn 2021 on sale today and have some very special prices we hope passengers will take advantage of.

“Our autumn sale will offer our customers in the UK more opportunities to reunite with friends and family across Europe.”

Since the September 11 attacks, airports have become edgy, awkward places and certain parts of the world are now deemed too risky to visit, writes Chris Moss.

My initial reaction to the events of September 11, 2001, once I had absorbed the momentous, horrific nature of the attack, was selfish. I had returned to the UK in March of that year after a decade working in Argentina and, having jumped, professionally speaking, from a small pond to a capacious sea, I was very much a minnow in the world of national journalism.

In August 2001, a glossy new food monthly had emailed me a dream commission: to travel to New York to do a crawl through the bourbon bars, before flying down to Kentucky to visit distilleries and attend a big party. All my rock and roll and Beatnik fantasies seemed to have been delivered in a single, career-boosting jolly. I was also very partial to a Beam and coke on the rocks.

The flight to JFK would leave on September 12, 2001. Needless to say, I didn’t get anywhere near an airport.

Read the full story.

Vietnam is planning to allow fully vaccinated holidaymakers to visit certain destinations in the country, in efforts to  revive its ailing tourism industry

The popular holiday island of Phu Quoc is set to be the first place to welcome foreign tourists under a pilot scheme, which will later be expanded to other tourists towns such as Ha Long, Hoi An and Nha Trang.

Phu Quoc will trial the six-month programme – not dissimilar to Thailand's 'Phuket Sandbox' – from October and expects to see 40,000 overseas visitors during this time. 

The country has been hard-hit by international travel restrictions with visitor numbers down 79 per cent in last year. In 2019 Vietnam saw a record 18 million tourists, a number which shrunk to under four million in 2020.

Research from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has found that train commuting was at just 33 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while car journeys had reached close to their pre-Covid volume.

"As new commuting habits form this autumn, city centres and high streets could be hit by a double whammy of gridlocked roads and business closures if there is a significant ongoing reduction in train commuters," the industry body said.

It argued that encouraging people to commute by train was "vital" to avoid "empty shop fronts and polluting traffic jams in cities across the country".

The RDG said that leisure journeys by train were recovering more quickly, suggesting some people feel "confident" travelling by rail.

But while commuting travel is expected to increase in September, it could take "years" to return to 2019 figures.

Travel companies may – like UK travellers – be subject to our Government’s travel restrictions. They’ve also weathered 18 months of much curtailed business. However, some companies and individuals in the industry have gone the extra mile to lessen the stress of trips abroad. 

On Wednesday, tour operator On the Beach announced that it would offer free Covid-19 tests (one antigen and one PCR) for customers who booked a holiday in September to Spain, Greece, the Spanish and Greek Islands and Cyprus. This is certainly a step in the right direction. In fact, it’s one of the key ways in which firms could improve the experience of travelling overseas. 

Here are our top five recommendations that travel firms can do to make overseas trips that bit easier.

1. Free Covid PCR tests
2.  Provide clear information on travel rules
3.  Allow penalty-free date changes (and swift refunds)
4.  Look after customer who test positive on holiday
5.  Keep queuing to a minimum

Read the full story. 

Tour operator On the Beach has confirmed no further countries will be added to its free Covid testing offer.

Earlier this week, the travel company announced that it will provide free Covid tests for customers who book 2021 holidays to Spain, Greece and Cyprus throughout September.

However, it has said that it hopes to include Welsh holidaymakers in the offer if restrictions are eased. Currently, they are the only British travellers excluded as authorities in Wales demand holidaymakers take an NHS PCR test before returning to the country.

Ahead of next week's traffic light update, a quick look at Covid case rates in Spain, Italy and France. In all three holiday favourites numbers have fallen, with infections down 35 per cent in Spain and 23 per cent in France in the last seven days. Italy's seven-day rate sits at 62.35 per 100,000 people, compared to the UK's 405.98.

It's just 35 miles long, but for an exhilarating drive the old mountain road up and over Gospel Pass to Hay-on-Wye simply can't be matched, writes Kerry Walker.

What a welcome: cross the Severn Bridge and the Brecon Beacons soon raise their sails in greeting. Rippling across 520 sq miles of national park, these peaks aren’t the country’s highest, but they certainly are dramatic. Dive in at the deep end and you’ll find heather-misted moors, glacier-sculpted valleys and the past imprinted in Iron Age hill forts, ruined castles and dashingly romantic abbeys. Pen y Fan and co get all the fuss, but there are less-traipsed, equally ravishing mountains to hoof up in the drizzle, getting more remote the further west you go. And given the park’s Dark Sky status, the stars are a treat at night. 

There’s no need to muddy your boots if you don’t want to. The single tracks swinging through these hills are road-trip heaven, with views to make your heart sing, restaurants with smart cheffery and glorious coaching inns full of real ales, beams and medieval swagger. So you’re stuck behind a tractor or sheep again? Who cares? With scenery like this, it would be rude to rush.  

Read the full story.

Jet2 has heralded the return of city breaks by restarting package holidays to European capitals. 

Services from Manchester airport to Barcelona and Rome have resumed with more cities to be added in the winter. These include Reykjavik, Budapest, Prague and Vienna. The carrier paused its city breaks programme throughout the pandemic due to ongoing international restrictions.

Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2, said: “The demand for city breaks is returning very strongly and comes at the perfect time to get away to and explore Europe’s best cities.

“The restart of our award-winning city breaks programme is another step towards a real and meaningful restart of international travel.

“We still have some way to go, but we are looking ahead with real confidence and optimism as we know how much customers want to get away and enjoy themselves.”

The travel industry is ramping up calls for current restrictions to be reexamined ahead of the Global Travel Taskforce review on October 1. Flights comparison website Skyscanner has highlighted a recent survey that found that cheaper testing was a key factor in encouraging bookings. 

A Skyscanner spokesperson said:

“The signs are positive for the travel sector with Skyscanner data showing there has been a huge appetite for international travel this summer as well as growing demand for Autumn and winter sun breaks. We’d expect to see more bookings as soon as further restrictions are eased.

Cheaper and easier testing options, as well as clear and consistent guidance are more important than ever in order to restore traveller confidence. In fact 36% of travellers in a recent Skyscanner survey cited cheaper testing as one of the most important factors in encouraging them to book travel abroad.”

Family holidays to cover all bases, from a gladiator school in Rome, theme park stays and cycling around Mallorca, to night walks in Keswick

Find the full list.

The travel industry is reacting to the news that more than £1 billion has been spent by holidaymakers on Covid tests this summer. Some have highlighted the contrast between much of mainland Europe's approach and the UK's severe testing rules for fully vaccinated travellers

Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, said:

“The UK alone in Europe is putting fully vaccinated travellers at the mercy of a dysfunctional private testing market that is charging rip-off prices and too frequently delivering a poor service. Countries like France and Spain have recovered much faster by looking at the science and removing expensive and burdensome PCR testing for the fully jabbed. By contrast, travel from the UK remains in the doldrums and won’t recover unless we see a step change in Government approach.

We only have one chance to get this right with the last review approaching. With furlough support due to stop at the end of the month and UK aviation seeing a recovery in name only, something will have to give. We either open up properly or many thousands of jobs will be under threat.”

The Australian state of Victoria has reported its biggest single-day rise in Covid cases this year – the majority in Melbourne – as most other regions in the state exited lockdown today.

The shift to a strategy of living with, rather than suppressing, the virus after hitting national vaccine coverage of 70-80 per cent is part of a four-stage national reopening plan unveiled by the federal government in July. The national vaccination rate for adults is currently at around 40 per cent.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, whose state today reported 334 new locally acquired cases and one death, has said lockdown restrictions in Melbourne will not be eased until 70 per cent of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose, which is expected around September 23.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said despite there being no current, "rapid" evolution of new coronavirus variants, the UK had a "moral" obligation to help vaccinate other countries around the world.

"We're not seeing the rapid evolution of new variants that are threatening the world today but that may well happen in the future and it's as likely to emerge in vaccinated populations as unvaccinated populations," he told the BBC's Today programme.

"They key thing for vaccinating people in other countries is because they need to be protected.

"There is such a big risk, morally from our perspective, there's a risk to trade, there's a risk to economies, but also these are our friends and colleagues who need to be protected and we are losing them every day that goes by."

EasyJet is on the brink of a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to grow, its chief executive Johan Lundgren said on Thursday, as the budget airline rejected a takeover approach from rival Wizz Air. It has pledged to go it alone with a new £1.2bn war chest raised from shareholders. 

Sadly for him, competitors feel the same way as the industry reshapes post-pandemic. Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s famously feisty boss, spoke in July of the company facing the “greatest growth opportunity” since its founding in 1984.

In a sign of the opportunity at hand, Wizz Air’s board earlier placed a possible £100m bonus within reach of boss Jozsef Varadi if he can more than double the share price over the next five years. 

The pandemic has largely been a horror story for the aviation industry. With passengers forced to stay at home and borders closed, revenue has dried up and many bosses have been forced to go cap in hand to banks, shareholders and Governments. 

Richard Millard has more.

Following on from the below, several of the airlines tested by Which? have responded to allegations.

An easyJet spokesman said:

We continually review the information we equip our agents with and provide them with ongoing and extensive training, and so we continue with this to ensure that agents are providing accurate and consistent advice to customers.

Ryanair was, as it often is, more blunt, stating:

All Covid-19 travel requirements are fully set out on Ryanair’s website, and are emailed to all passengers 24 hours prior to travel. We do not expect our call centre agents to be experts on the multiple Covid travel restrictions, which apply across 40 different countries.

Airlines are giving out incorrect information on Covid testing requirements that could see passengers turned away from flights, a consumer group has warned.

Which? said a mystery shopping exercise found most agents for British Airways (BA), easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and Tui that they spoke with were unable to provide clear, consistent or accurate answers.

In nearly half of the calls, Which? said that the passenger would have been turned away from their flight if they had followed the information provided by the agent. If a traveller does not meet the entry requirements and cannot board their flight, they have no recourse to a refund.

The UK and devolved governments set the rules on testing for people’s return to the UK, while foreign governments determine the rules for UK passenger arrivals. However, the airlines leave it to ground staff to enforce the rules.

Charles Hymas has the story.

Before we begin, here's a reminder of yesterday's top headlines:

• Covid risk on flights 'less than 0.1%', real-world data reveals
• Scrap testing for double vaccinated travellers, urges former transport secretary
• EasyJet rejects takeover bid
• DfT working to reduce the cost of Covid tests, MPs told
• UK arrivals have paid more than £1bn for Covid tests
• Christmas booking for UK holiday rentals up 480pc on last year

Now, on with Friday's news.