Manchester Airport Group have joined nRyanair in launching a legal challenge against the Government over its “traffic light” system for international travel, hoping to force a relaxation of strict rules that threaten the summer holiday season.
The pair plan to file papers at the High Court on Thursday to seek clarity over the transparency of the system.Other airlines are expected to join the legal action.
With just weeks before the peak July and August travel season when most profits are made, the aviation industry is worried about losing another summer to COVID-19 as the British government blocks most travel, meaning more job losses and financial strain.
A government spokesperson said it cannot comment on legal proceedings.
“We recognise this is a challenging period for the sector, as we seek to balance the timely reopening of international travel while safeguarding public health and protecting the vaccine roll-out,” the government said in a statement.
Britain allowed vacations again from May after months of lockdown but discourages travel to popular holiday destinations such as Spain, France, Greece and the United States, classifying them as “amber” under its traffic light system.
This means travellers must quarantine for 10 days on their return and take multiple COVID-19 tests. Only a handful of places are classified as green, and none in the European Union after Portugal was removed at short notice earlier in June.
The court papers will argue the British government should clearly explain how it makes decisions on categorising countries, given the “dramatic” impact these decisions have on the aviation industry.
Charlie Cornish, MAG CEO, said: “The whole travel sector recognises the critical importance of protecting public health, and we have facilitated every measure the government has required in response to Covid-19.
“That is why we originally welcomed the Global Travel Taskforce’s traffic light system, which the Government said would be based on a ‘a clear and consistent evidence-based approach to facilitate the safe, sustainable and robust return of international travel.’
“However, recent developments suggest that the Government is now unwilling to open up international travel by putting low risk countries on the green list.
“For most countries, the traffic light seems to be stuck on amber for no obvious reason, despite having prevalence rates much lower than the UK.
“The Government is not being open and we simply cannot understand how it is making decisions that are fundamental to our ability to plan, and to giving customers the confidence to book travel ahead.
“These issues must be resolved urgently – and ahead of the review point later this month – to allow everyone to understand how the system operates, and to create the opportunity for international travel to resume to the fullest extent possible over the summer.”
