Nightmare for UK tourists as flights home soar to £700

Seats on the last flights back to London from the Algarve before Portugal is removed from the UK’s green list in less than four days’ time were on sale for up to £711 today as Britons faced a race to get home – with more than 112,000 in the country on holiday.

Britons keen to stay abroad for as long as they can before the new rules come in next Tuesday at 4am face paying at least £258 if they fly back home the night before. That is the cheapest flight next Monday, a WizzAir route leaving Faro at 9.05pm local time and arriving at London Luton at 11.50pm, four hours before the rules change.

Anyone flying back today faces paying at least £99, also for a WizzAir flight to Luton; while it is £91 on Saturday or £172 on Sunday, both for easyJet services to Gatwick. The most expensive seats before Tuesday’s deadline can be found for £711 on a British Airways service from Faro to London City, leaving next Monday at 11am.

Those returning from an amber list country will be required either to quarantine at home for ten days on their return and take a PCR test on days two and eight, as well as a lateral flow test before the return flight. Or they can pay for an additional third ‘Test to Release’ on day five to end self-isolation early. They will still need to take the compulsory second test on or after day eight.

British families of four in Portugal now face having to pay £1,500 to buy three sets of PCR tests at £125 each, if they go under the ‘Test to Release’ scheme. Adding this to the cost of a lateral flow test, which can be bought at Faro Airport for €30 (£25), the total cost for a family of four would be about £1,600.

Holidays to Portugal have been thrown into chaos after ministers removed the European country from the travel green list amid concerns over the new Nepal coronavirus variant. The move triggered a furious diplomatic row, with Portugal’s president accusing UK ministers of ‘health fundamentalism’ and of being ‘obsessed’ with infection rates.

It also sparked a race among thousands of Britons in Portugal to get back before quarantine-on-return rules kick in on Tuesday. Those booked to go in coming weeks were left in limbo over whether to go ahead with their holiday under the tougher quarantine rules or to rebook for later in the summer and hope the country goes green again.

The decision to move Portugal onto the ‘amber list’ was apparently triggered by concerns over the Nepal variant, a mutated version of the Indian strain. But Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Portugal’s president, has accused UK ministers of ‘not recognising that we live in a different situation than we lived before vaccination’. 

Mr Rebelo de Sousa added: ‘The numbers are going up, but they are not increasing inpatients and ICU numbers and deaths. We can’t keep obsessively looking at it this way, ignoring that with vaccination, reality has changed.’ 

Among those trying to get home before the change is Simon Smith, from Stamford, Lincolnshire, who is currently on holiday at Lagos in Portugal. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Bit of a scramble I’m afraid. 

‘We’re trying to get some testing organised but obviously the Government released the information yesterday and it was a bank holiday in Portugal which didn’t help. We’ve got the flights booked for Saturday at 10 o’clock but we’re being told by local doctors that it can be up to three or four days waiting for tests, so that we can fly.’

Jet2 has cancelled all international flights and holidays up to July 1 and Easyjet will ‘review’ its flights after Portugal was pulled from the green list. Albufeira-based bar owner Gary Search, 54, said: ‘One of the bars is 98 per cent British tourists and in the other about 50 per cent of our customers are Brits who are also mostly holidaymakers. 

‘We’re absolutely devastated by today’s decision.  We’d literally just got off the ground, we’d been scrabbling around all week getting new staff because obviously we couldn’t employ the staff till we got busy. 

‘There’s no staff here because of Brexit and Covid so it’s been extremely difficult. We’d just put them all on contracts and then this happens. It’s messed things right up to be honest.’

Pedro Neto, general manager of the luxury Vila Monte Farm House hotel in the Algarve, said the hotel was already receiving cancellations. He added: ‘It’s very difficult news to receive. We are a hotel with a lot of British guests and this is obviously not the news that we were hoping for. People are so happy to be here, the weather is beautiful, everything is working as it should so this is not the news we were expecting.’ 

Cristovao Norte, Portuguese MP for the Algarve, said he is ‘perplexed’ by the British Government’s decision to remove Portugal from the green list. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘We were not expecting the decision because there haven’t been major changes in Portugal, just a spike in the Lisbon area.

‘But we have 66 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Our rate of transmission is more or less the UK rate, so we weren’t expecting this decision from the English government. We wear masks, we obey the rules, we maintain social distancing, vaccination is growing steadily. So I’m a little bit perplexed.’ 

Moving Portugal from green to amber means travellers will have to quarantine at home for ten days after visiting, while paying for and taking two Covid tests, on days two and eight. British families of four in Portugal now face having to pay £1,000 to buy PCR tests at £125 each – or another £500 if they use ‘test to release’ on day five.

Further complications may arise if the Foreign Office changes its stance and advises against visiting Portugal, which would invalidate travel insurance. The move to downgrade Portugal, including Madeira and the Azores, to amber came despite there being just three deaths in the country in the latest 24-hour period.

Its infection rate is similar to the UK’s, with the rolling seven-day average being 53.63 cases per million of the population compared to the UK’s 51.41. Some 45 per cent of its adult population have received at least one dose.

But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the country’s infection rate had almost doubled since it was put on the green list three weeks ago. He added: ‘In the end we’ve seen two things that have caused concern – one thing is that the positivity rate has nearly doubled, since the last review, in Portugal.

‘And the other thing is there’s a sort of Nepal mutation of the so-called Indian variant which has been detected and we just don’t know the potential for that to be a vaccine-defeating mutation.  We simply don’t want to take the risk as we come up to June 21 and the review of the fourth stage of the [domestic] unlock.’ 

And Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said Portuguese scientists had detected the Nepal variant, adding: ‘What we don’t yet know is how prevalent it is in Portugal – but more importantly than that, whether this really is a significant problem.

‘You could of course wait whilst we do that research and then, God forbid, we learn that it is very virulent, that it does compromise our vaccines, or we can take a safety-first approach.’at this stage is the right thing to do.’

Travel bosses have accused ministers of laying waste to the industry and isolating the UK amid fears the shutdown could cost the economy more than £11billion. The shrinking of the green list, the move to downgrade Portugal and the expansion of the red list wiped £2billion off the value of airlines. 

Meanwhile, industry figures warned that at least half the 1.6million jobs in the sector had either already been lost or were now at risk, with many more redundancies feared. Many had been hoping for an expansion of the green list and a signal that foreign holidays will be back on the agenda this summer. 

Instead, with the next review three weeks away, travel bosses were left fearing ‘another lost summer’ and a shattering of consumer confidence.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the travel agents’ association Abta, said it was clear the Government’s strategy was ‘continuing to prevent any meaningful resumption of international travel’. 

He suggested it was time ministers considered bailing out the industry.

He warned: ‘You can’t build the recovery of a multi-billion-pound sector while mass market holiday destinations remain off the green list. The removal of Portugal comes on the back on what was already a very short and cautious green list.

‘Travel agents and tour operators haven’t been able to generate income since the start of the pandemic and have been depending on the return of international travel to help bring some much needed relief. 

‘The Government now needs to come forward with tailored financial support for the sector.’

Other travel bosses meanwhile were equally scathing. EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren accused the Government of having ‘torn up its own rule book’; Brian Strutton, from the pilots’ union, said the decision to axe Portugal from the green list was ‘a total disaster for the already fragile travel industry’; while Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, which represents carriers, accused the Government of leading the industry on a ‘painful merry dance’.

The outcry came after the Government said Portugal would be added to the amber list from next Tuesday, forcing thousands of British holidaymakers to cancel their trips or cut them short to avoid quarantine.

It means there will be just 11 countries or territories on the green list, of which only Iceland and Gibraltar are viable holiday destinations. Hopes that the Balearics or Greek islands could be added were also scuppered.

Instead, seven countries are being added to the red list, forcing anyone returning from them to quarantine in Government-approved hotels at a cost of up to £1,750 per person.

Senior figures warned the about-turn would devastate confidence in foreign holidays because of the uncertainty over whether a green country could suddenly turn amber.

In 2019, outbound tourism was worth £11.7billion to the UK economy for the summer months, according to the Future of Aviation Parliamentary Group. 

If the travel list stays as it is now for June, July and August, then it will only be worth a £200million.

Shares in IAG, the parent company of British Airways, fell 5 per cent, with easyJet sinking about the same. Ryanair closed 1.3 per cent lower and TUI fell about 4.5 per cent.

BA warned the UK had reached a ‘critical point’ and was in urgent need of more air travel for business and pleasure to restart the economy and reunite loved ones.

Karen Dee, boss of the Airport Operators Association, added: ‘Summer 2021 is shaping up to be worse than last summer, which was the worst in aviation history.

‘Analysis has shown that 860,000 jobs of the 1.6million UK jobs in aviation, travel and tourism were lost or sustained only due to government furlough schemes since the pandemic started.’

Mr Lundgren said: ‘The Government has torn up its own rule book and ignored the science, throwing people’s plans into chaos, with virtually no notice or alternative options for travel from the UK.’

Union boss Mr Stratton said: ‘Our airlines need this summer season if they are to survive.’

Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye called for rapid action to reopen flights to key trading partners and remove testing for vaccinated passengers from countries on the green list. 

Holidaymakers flying to Portugal lashed out at the ‘shambolic’ decision to take the destination off the green list and impose a 10-day quarantine period on their return.

At London Gatwick Airport today, a flight left for the Algarve at 8.30am. Those travelling on the easyJet flight expressed their disgust at having to pay for extra Covid tests and then quarantine for 10 days at the end of their holiday.

One couple said the extra costs for a two and eight day test and a third test to leave quarantine after five days had amounted to £1200- more than double the cost of their return flight to Faro.

‘I am absolutely disgusted with what the Government has done’ said David Roper. ‘How can they tell us it is safe to travel, then three weeks later remove Portugal from the green list?

‘With the PCR test we took to get the flight and all the other tests we now have to pay for on return it’s added £1,200 to the cost. The fares were not cheap but it is ridiculous.’

Mr Roper and his wife Lydia, from Barnes, South West London, were flying to the Algarve for an eight day break. Many others on the flight were going to second homes in Portugal.

EasyJet staff at Gatwick’s North Terminal said the early morning flight was ‘ not as busy as usual’.

‘Usually every seat would be booked, but people are just not travelling and the terminal is so quiet’ said a member of the check-in team.

‘It’s devastating for us as we just want to see people flying. If there are no flights out jobs are at risk. The Government seem intent on destroying our industry I feel sick every time they make an announcement about travel’.

Others on the Faro flight blamed the Government’s U-turn on Chelsea and Many City fans who attended the European Cup final in Porto and were seen drinking and celebrating with no masks or social distancing.

‘This is down to the football lot,’ said one irate passenger. ‘I now have to pay for the test to get out of quarantine after five days as I cannot afford to be off work for 10 days.

‘Boris Johnson has got something right with the vaccines, but to keep chopping and changing what places we can go is madness. They either ban all travel or let people go away and know in advance have to quarantine on their return.

‘It was too late to change my booking as I would have lost out. It’s put me in a bad mood before I’ve even left’.

Albufeira-based bar owner Mr Search, who is originally from Southend-on-Sea, runs his two bars with long-term partner Michelle Mundy, 51.  ‘We had our finger on the pulse and were more or less aware of what was going on but we really didn’t think it would happen,’ he said. 

‘Portugal is just slightly over the numbers and there’s nothing in the Algarve at all. It’s all up in Lisbon. For everyone in the Algarve, not just us but also the tourists, it’s a complete nightmare.

‘I think the problem for people even if they try to scrabble around for flights back home before the new rules kick in and they have to quarantine is going to be that they’re tied to having Covid tests before they go and there’s a two to three-day waiting lists because the Covid test centres here are overloaded.

‘People need a Covid test to go home so they’re not going to get it till Saturday or Sunday at the earliest which makes it impossible for those who can to rearrange their flights.

‘Portugal has been the only major European holiday destination on the green list and we are in a very tourist area in Albufeira.

‘Basically the last week has been like a summer for the first time since 2019. It’s been great. We have a snack bar and we’ve been fully functioning.

‘Now it’s going to go down to literally nothing again, probably just a couple of hundred quid a day I would imagine and people are going to disappear this weekend. It’s a disaster.’ 

John Joyce, from Newcastle, and his family decided to book a holiday in sunny Portugal as soon as Britain added it to the green list of foreign destinations around three weeks ago.

‘Everybody needed a little break… a change from being stuck at home,’ the 44-year-old said as he enjoyed a beer at a restaurant in the heart of Lisbon.

Portugal was the only big beach destination placed on the list, which allowed Britons to travel there without needing to quarantine when returning home. Like Joyce, thousands packed their bags.

Reacting to developments yesterday, though, Mr Joyce said: ‘It’s a bit unfair. There are families bringing out kids and people who booked their holidays already… and the stress involved for people, including myself.’

Charlotte Cheddle, 22, echoed the same feelings, urging the British government to either ‘ban international travel completely or communicate properly with people’.

‘It’s silly,’ she said. ‘We made an effort to get tested privately… We paid for everything and we have done everything to make it safe.’ 

British families in Portugal now face spending £1,000 for which they have not budgeted to buy PCR tests to get home. Upon returning to the UK, they will have to complete two tests on Days 2 and 8. 

Portugal has lifted most of its lockdown restrictions. The government has been heavily criticised for allowing thousands of mainly maskless English football to party in Porto during the Champions League final last weekend.  

The British government’s decision is a huge blow for Portugal’s tourism sector, which represents a significant chunk of GDP and has Britain as one of its biggest foreign markets.

‘It’s not great for businesses but slowly we will get there – or at least I really hope so because our economy is down,’ said restaurant manager Ana Paula Gomes in Lisbon.

The head of the hotels’ association in the touristy Algarve region, Eliderico Viegas, said Britain’s move would hit the sector like a ‘bucket of cold water’.

João Fernandes, President of Algarve Tourism, speaking in his first comments since the UK announcement, said: ‘As you can imagine we are bitterly disappointed to be moved to the amber list. 

‘In the Algarve region we host two thirds of the British overnight hotel stays in Portugal. And since the start of the pandemic the Algarve has had the lowest number of cases and better indicators than the rest of the country.  

‘Furthermore, Portugal has one of the highest levels of pandemic control and prevention in the EU, according to indicators in the latest ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) report.

‘The millions of Brits that visit us each year contribute to the livelihoods of many people in the region.

‘Our hotels, tour operators and airline partners will also once again be put in a difficult situation, trying to plan around these ever-changing rules.

‘For holidaymakers it is an impossible situation trying to book a holiday overseas, and I sympathise with those that were looking forward to visiting our beautiful region for a well-deserved break.

‘We hope they will re-arrange their holiday to the Algarve for later in the year rather than cancel completely.’  

Alfonso Rodriguez Badal, mayor of the municipality of Calvia which includes the popular British holiday resort of Magaluf, said the decision to keep the Balearic Islands on amber was a ‘surprise.’ 

He added: ‘It’s also obviously a disappointment.

‘We were confident we would go onto a green light rating because we understood people here had made a real effort to get our accumulated coronavirus rate down to a very low level to make us one of the safest if not the safest Mediterranean resort.

‘Therefore we felt this could give the UK enough confidence to let holidaymakers come here without imposing restrictions on their return.

‘It hasn’t happened but we are going to continue working towards achieving this and we are confident and hope that the next UK government revision will lead to Calvia and the Balearic Islands and the rest of Spain as well if it can happen, being given that green traffic light rating that will facilitate the arrivals of more tourists here.’ 

Iago Negueruela, regional Tourism Minister for the Balearic Islands which was hoping to be the sole Spanish region to be put on the UK’s green traffic light system, said he viewed the decision as that of a ‘sovereign state focused on its own domestic health situation’ in light of the June 21 Freedom Day date.

He added: ‘At the moment practically no Mediterranean holiday destination is open for the UK. We respect the British government’s decision.

‘Given the good vaccination rate in the UK if we can go onto a green rating in the next UK government revision, we’ll be in line with the estimations of the major tour operators like TUI and Jet2 who had said they would restart their operations towards the end of June.

‘The British market is a very important market for us and we hope to recover it towards the end of this month.’ 

Eduardo Jesus, the Regional Secretary for Culture and Tourism of Madeira, called the UK decision to demote it to amber ‘unfair and completely inadequate.’ 

He said: ‘We are already reacting with the British government, presenting a set of arguments we believe are valid, and pointing out that this decision is totally incorrect for Madeira, inadequate and above all, very unfair.’ 

He told local press: ‘The reality of Madeira has been different from the national reality for a long time, with a model adopted here for controlling entry and monitoring citizens throughout their stay in the region. 

‘Furthermore, it is important to bear in mind that Madeira is in a much more advanced state with regard to the vaccination process than mainland Portugal and this is also a factor of confidence, not only for those who live here, but also for those who visit us.

‘The risk of British citizens traveling to Madeira is reduced by the fact that the overwhelming number of passengers come on direct flights.’ 

UK holidaymakers revealed they are planning on cancelling their trips to the country while others said they will not bother going abroad this summer.

One Twitter user said: ‘I’m due to fly to Portugal on Sunday for 7 days, so will be green when I go and amber on return? Will my holiday still go ahead??’

Another tweeted: ’17 days Portugal has been on the green list. How the hell is anyone going to have the confidence to book a foreign holiday? I certainly won’t be whilst this traffic light system is in place.’

One person wrote: ‘@jet2tweets what are our options now with Portugal going amber? Supposed to be going in 3 weeks’. Another said: ‘It looks liuke my summer holiday is gone, so this week in Portugal is a god send’. 

On Twitter user added: ‘Would be funny if I hadn’t flown to Portugal this morning’. 

It comes as travel industry leaders blasted the Government’s ‘crippling’ and ‘confusing’ decision to axe Portugal from its green list of safe destinations amid growing concern over the Nepal coronavirus variant. 

In a statement to MailOnline, package holiday firm TUI UK called the announcement ‘another step back for our industry’ and demanded to see the scientific basis for the decision.

Its managing director, Andrew Flintham, said: ‘After promises that the Global Travel Taskforce would result in a clear framework, removing the damaging flip flopping we all endured last summer, the Government decision to move Portugal straight from green to amber will do untold damage to customer confidence. 

‘We were reassured that a green watch list would be created and a weeks’ notice would be given so travellers wouldn’t have to rush back home. They have failed on this promise. 

‘Unlike other European countries and despite multiple requests, the government has refused to be transparent about the data requirements for green, amber and red destinations. 

‘We must see the methodology so we can help our customers and plan our operations accordingly. There are destinations around the world with little or no Covid-19 cases and good vaccination rates, so we need to understand why these remain on the amber list.’

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: ‘This shock decision to add Portugal to the Amber list is a huge blow to those who are currently in Portugal and those who have booked to be reunited with loved ones, or take a well-deserved break this summer. 

‘With Portuguese rates similar to those in the UK it simply isn’t justified by the science.

‘And to add no more countries to the Green list when most of Europe’s infection rates are on a downward trend and many places with low infection rates below that of the UK, such as the Balearics with a current rate of 33 in 100,000 and Malta, with just 12 in 100,000, this makes no sense. 

‘Especially when domestic travel is allowed within the UK, despite a number of cities having infection rates 20 times greater than much of Europe.

‘When this framework was put together, consumers were promised a waiting list to allow them to plan. Yet the Government has torn up its own rule book and ignored the science, throwing peoples’ plans into chaos, with virtually no notice or alternative options for travel from the UK. 

‘This decision essentially cuts the UK off from the rest of the world.

‘We have demonstrated that a safe reopening of travel is possible as our study with leading epidemiologists from the Yale School of Public Health showed that the criteria which matters most is the impact on hospitalisation rates back in the UK, not the infection rates in destination. 

‘Reopening travel to much of Europe would have a negligible impact on hospitalisation rates in the UK.

‘While our European fleet is gearing up for summer as European governments open up travel for their citizens, the UK government is making it impossible for airlines to plan while consumers are left grounded in UK.’ 

Shares in easyJet, British Airways-owner IAG and Jet2 were down five per cent on fears that Europe would lose another peak travel season, when millions of Britons usually head to southern Europe in July and August.

Ryanair and TUI, which has a big German customer base as well as British, lost four per cent.

Data provided by Cirium showed that Ryanair and easyJet had been scheduled to operate more than 500 flights from the UK to Portugal in June. The airlines had all added flights to the country in May.

The industry is already weakened by 15 months of lockdowns, forcing it to cut tens of thousands of jobs and take on debt, and it will be severely challenged if there is no reopening this summer.

The news is also likely to sound the alarm in France, Spain, Greece and Italy where thousands of jobs rely on the arrival of high-spending British tourists each summer.

Portugal’s foreign ministry said it did not understand the ‘logic’ behind the decision. 

‘We took note of Britain’s decision to remove Portugal from the green list,’ the ministry said on Twitter, adding that it would continue to ease its lockdown rules ‘gradually’. 

No countries are being added to the ‘green list’, dashing hopes that places such as Malta, Jamaica and Grenada could be added to the roster thanks to easing Covid rates.

And more countries are being put on the ‘red list’ that means returning travellers must go into quarantine hotels. They are Egypt, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Bahrain, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago and Afghanistan.  

Mr Shapps said there had been a rise in test positivity in Portugal, and also pointed to the danger that the coronavirus variant linked to Nepal could pose a fresh threat to the escape from lockdown. 

‘I want to be straight with people, it’s actually a difficult decision to make, but in the end we’ve seen two things really which caused concern,’ he said. 

‘One is the positivity rate has nearly doubled since the last review in Portugal and the other is there’s a sort of Nepal mutation of the so-called Indian variant which has been detected and we just don’t know the potential for that to be a vaccine-defeating mutation, and simply don’t want to take the risk as we come up to June 21 and the review of the fourth stage of the unlock.’ 

However, a British Airways spokesperson called the decision ‘incredibly disappointing’ and ‘confusing’, adding: ‘The UK has reached a critical point and urgently needs travel with low-risk countries, like the US, to restart the economy, support devastated industries and reunite loved ones. 

‘With high levels of vaccinations in the UK being matched by other countries, we should see the UK Government adding destinations to ‘green’ as soon as possible – not turning its back on a traffic light model which we were led to believe was based firmly on scientific data.’

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye reacted with fury this afternoon, saying: ‘Ministers spent last month hailing the restart of international travel, only to close it down three weeks later all but guaranteeing another lost summer for the travel sector.

‘Everyone wants to protect public health, but the entire point of the Global Travel Taskforce was to establish a system to unlock low-risk travel safely.

‘Britain is the worst performing economy in the G7, and in the week that the Prime Minister hosts G7 leaders to launch his Government’s vision of Global Britain, he’s sending a message that the UK will remain isolated from the rest of the world and closed to most of its G7 partners.

‘If the Government is serious about protecting UK jobs and supporting businesses across the country, rapid action is needed to reopen flights to key trading partners, remove testing for vaccinated passengers from ‘green’ countries, and slash the cost and complexity of testing, as other G7 countries are doing.’

Gatwick Airport boss Stewart Wingate told MailOnline:  ‘It is bitterly disappointing news for our impacted passengers and airlines that Portugal is to be added to the ‘amber’ list from next week while no further destinations are being opened up for ‘green’ travel.’ 

The chief executive of Manchester Airports Group, Charlie Cornish, accused the Government of ‘scapegoating’ international travel and risking tens of thousands of jobs.

He told MailOnline: ‘We were told the traffic light system would allow people to travel safely, with the right measures in place to manage risk for different countries.

‘But it is now clear the Government doesn’t trust its own system and that international travel is being unfairly scapegoated, with tens of thousands of jobs placed at risk in the process.

‘Low-risk destinations continue to be left off the green list despite clear evidence they are safe to visit. With case rates lower than the UK, we simply cannot understand why the likes of the Balearics, the Canaries and some Greek islands do not fall into that category.

‘If we followed the approach being taken across Europe, lots of other countries – like the United States, Germany and Italy – would also be classed as green. Instead, we’re stuck with a system that is clearly not fit for purpose and will deny people the opportunity to travel abroad safely this year. 

‘The lack of transparency is shocking and totally unacceptable. If the Government has information that supports its decisions, then it needs to publish it. We have repeatedly asked for this data, but we are being left in the dark about how it is making these choices, with no opportunity for scrutiny or challenge.

‘That is not the way to go about limiting people’s freedoms and crippling the country’s travel and tourism sectors. 

‘With so much at stake, we need immediate transparency and urgent action to make this system of travel restrictions fit for purpose.’

Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency, suggested the Government was motivated by ‘political’ considerations rather than public health. 

On the decision not to add any more countries to the green travel list he said: ‘I think it’s a terrible decision that threatens jobs and recovery in the travel sector.

‘It shows little awareness of the safe destinations globally and is at odds with how citizens from other countries such as America are travelling. Those British citizens who have been fully jabbed should be given more flexibility to travel to a wider range of green destinations.

‘They are basically putting at risk tens of thousands of jobs across aviation and the travel sector, and not showing any signs of helping the sector to recover. They seem to want to continue to create an atmosphere of fear among travellers, which is totally at odds with other countries.

‘There are several countries which meet the criteria to be on the green list so this is clearly a politically charged decision rather than one based on data.’

ABTA travel association boss Mark Tanzer said: ‘It’s clear that the Government’s domestic health strategy is continuing to prevent any meaningful resumption of international travel. 

‘You can’t build the recovery of a multi-billion-pound sector while mass market holiday destinations remain off the green list. The removal of Portugal comes on the back on what was already a very short and cautious green list.

‘Travel agents and tour operators haven’t been able to generate income since the start of the pandemic and have been depending on the return of international travel to help bring in some much needed relief.

‘The Government now needs to come forward with tailored financial support for the sector, which recognises that the travel industry’s recovery will be slower than that in other sectors of the economy, and takes account of the unique challenges businesses in the sector are facing.

‘Travel companies are desperately worried that at a time when the market hasn’t opened up they will shortly face increased furlough and business rates costs, with support being gradually withdrawn from the end of this month. 

‘It’s vital that the Government doesn’t leave these businesses behind as it focuses on the domestic unlocking.’ 

Steven Freudmann, chairman of Institute of Travel and Tourism, told MailOnline: ‘It’s an absolute hammer blow to the industry. The EU is about to bring in ‘green passes’ for anyone in the EU to travel freely around Europe, subject to their having been vaccinated or having tested negative.

‘The UK is in real danger of shrinking into splendid isolation whilst at the same time seeing its travel industry die a death of a thousand cuts.

‘The Government delayed 14 days before adding India to the red list, allowing 20,000 people who could have been carrying the new coronavirus strain into the UK. There is just no consistency.’ 

In Portugal, Joao Fernandes, President of the Algarve Tourist Board, described the UK decision to downgrade Portugal from green to amber as a ‘severe setback.’ 

He told Portuguese press: ‘We had a very robust and growing demand for the coming weeks from the British market, with flights increasing their capacity and hotel reservations consolidating.’ 

Speaking just before the announcement was made public he added: ‘It’s obvious any change will have a very significant impact on the Algarve.

‘Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has just come out which places us among the three countries in Europe with the lowest accumulated incidence of coronavirus in the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants.

‘Before coming to Portugal a British tourist has to do a PCR test. In a European context Britain has the most advanced vaccination programme.’   

Alfonso Rodriguez Badal, mayor of the municipality of Calvia which includes the popular British holiday resort of Magaluf, said the decision to keep the Balearic Islands on amber was a ‘surprise.’ He added: ‘It’s also obviously a disappointment.

‘We were confident we would go onto a green light rating because we understood people here had made a real effort to get our accumulated coronavirus rate down to a very low level to make us one of the safest if not the safest Mediterranean resort.

‘Therefore we felt this could give the UK enough confidence to let holidaymakers come here without imposing restrictions on their return.

‘It hasn’t happened but we are going to continue working towards achieving this and we are confident and hope that the next UK government revision will lead to Calvia and the Balearic Islands and the rest of Spain as well if it can happen, being given that green traffic light rating that will facilitate the arrivals of more tourists here.’ 

Iago Negueruela, regional Tourism Minister for the Balearic Islands which was hoping to be the sole Spanish region to be put on the UK’s green traffic light system, said he viewed the decision as that of a ‘sovereign state focused on its own domestic health situation’ in light of the June 21 Freedom Day date.

He added: ‘At the moment practically no Mediterranean holiday destination is open for the UK. We respect the British government’s decision.

‘Given the good vaccination rate in the UK if we can go onto a green rating in the next UK government revision, we’ll be in line with the estimations of the major tour operators like TUI and Jet2 who had said they would restart their operations towards the end of June.

‘The British market is a very important market for us and we hope to recover it towards the end of this month.’

Eduardo Jesus, the Regional Secretary for Culture and Tourism of Madeira, called the UK decision to demote it to amber ‘unfair and completely inadequate.’ 

He said: ‘We are already reacting with the British government, presenting a set of arguments we believe are valid, and pointing out that this decision is totally incorrect for Madeira, inadequate and above all, very unfair.’ 

He told local press: ‘The reality of Madeira has been different from the national reality for a long time, with a model adopted here for controlling entry and monitoring citizens throughout their stay in the region.  

‘Furthermore, it is important to bear in mind that Madeira is in a much more advanced state with regard to the vaccination process than mainland Portugal and this is also a factor of confidence, not only for those who live here, but also for those who visit us.

‘The risk of British citizens traveling to Madeira is reduced by the fact that the overwhelming number of passengers come on direct flights.’  

UK holidaymakers revealed they are planning on cancelling their trips to the country while others said they will not bother going abroad this summer.

One Twitter user said: ‘I’m due to fly to Portugal on Sunday for 7 days, so will be green when I go and amber on return? Will my holiday still go ahead??’

Another tweeted: ’17 days Portugal has been on the green list. How the hell is anyone going to have the confidence to book a foreign holiday? I certainly won’t be whilst this traffic light system is in place.’

One person wrote: ‘@jet2tweets what are our options now with Portugal going amber? Supposed to be going in 3 weeks’.

Another said: ‘It looks liuke my summer holiday is gone, so this week in Portugal is a god send’. Another added: ‘Would be funny if I hadn’t flown to Portugal this morning’.

The Government said the decision to move Portugal to the amber list followed an ‘almost doubling’ in the country’s coronavirus test positivity rate and the discovery of 68 cases of the Indian variant including some with a mutation previously seen in Nepal.

Public Health England is investigating both the Indian variant and the mutation ‘to better understand whether it could be more transmissible and less effectively tackled by vaccines’.  

Mr Shapps said ‘decisive action’ will help ‘make sure that we can do a domestic unlock’.

‘We would expect in the ordinary course of events for there to be now a three-week period, obviously subject to if something dramatic comes up we would of course need to make changes elsewhere and we will have to reserve the right to do that to protect the population at home.

‘Look, 67million people have been through a lot this last year and a half, but a lot of people have come forward for their jabs in incredible numbers.

‘No one wants the government to fail to take decisive action to protect that as we look towards this fourth unlock, and we want to give ourselves the best possible chance when we get to that unlock and not have factors from outside – for example potentially vaccine defeating mutation – preventing us from being able to give ourselves the best chance of unlocking domestically.’

Mr Shapps said the UK had ‘done wonders with our vaccination programme and the rest of the world will catch up’.

‘Europe is probably 10 weeks behind but they will catch up and I don’t know exactly what that will mean in terms of the summer but the decisive action today is designed to protect the future, to make sure that we can do a domestic unlock or give ourselves the best possible chance of doing so and that will also help us to unlock international travel given time,’ he added.

‘So we’re not in the same place as last year, we’ve got the vaccination programme, we do need to check though that the vaccine can work against all the kinds of mutations that we’re seeing and so we’re having to take a safety first attitude when it comes to those mutations becoming apparent.’

With Portugal facing a shift to the amber list after ministers meet today, people returning from the country will have to self-isolate for 10 days as well as paying for coronavirus tests. 

It will be a huge kick in the teeth to Britons who have already booked a holiday in hot spots such as the Algarve, believing they will be able to return quarantine free.

And it will also be another damaging blow to the already struggling travel industry, which had hoped for more countries to be added to the green list this month. 

Yesterday Portugal saw its highest daily number of cases since March. And the country currently has a case rate of around 37 infections per 100,000 people – higher than the UK’s rate of 34.5.

The final decisions were based on an assessment from the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC).

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the priority was ‘keeping the country safe’. 

‘We have got to follow the data and of course, I understand why people want to travel but we’ve got to make sure we keep this country safe, especially because the vaccine programme is going so well,’ he told reporters at a G7 gathering in Oxford this morning. 

‘We have seen hospitalisations and deaths come right down and we have to got to protect the progress we have made here at home, whilst allowing for travel where it is safe.

‘You have got to follow the data.’ 

Mr Johnson hinted at a hard line when he was asked about expanding the green list yesterday, and said: ‘We’re going to try to allow people to travel, as I know that many people want to, but we’ve got to be cautious and we’ve got to continue to put countries on the red list, on the amber list, when that is necessary.

‘I want you to know we will have no hesitation in moving countries from the green list to the amber list to the red list, if we have to do so. 

‘The priority is to continue the vaccination rollout, to protect the people of this country.’

In the past, holiday-makers have normally been given days – and sometimes up to a week – to return to the UK from countries where travel restrictions have been changed.

The government has ignored pressure for other countries such as Malta to be added to the green list.

The Mediterranean island, a popular destination for British tourists, is currently on the amber list, but has high vaccination levels and low infections.

The Cayman Islands, Grenada, British Virgin Islands, Finland and some Caribbean islands were also among those being floated for the green list. 

Cyprus’ deputy tourism minister yesterday said the country ‘absolutely deserves’ to be in the loosest category. 

After today, the green list – which currently contains 12 countries – will not be reviewed until the week running up to June 28. 

That means it will be July before there is another chance for more destinations to make it on to the list.