Travel News 26th January 2022

There is plenty in the news this week, some of it good news for a change when it comes to holidays! Let’s run through some of the key stories in the press and outline what is on the agenda for the next few days.

Snow storms in Greece & Turkey trigger travel alert

Almost a thousand flights were cancelled across Greece and Turkey earlier this week as a rare winter storm caused severe disruption. A national holiday in Greece has been extended as a result and there are fears of even more cancellations today and tomorrow. With Turkey and Greece being mainly summer holiday destinations for Brits, it looks thankfully like there are not too many UK national impacted, certainly not when compared to the impact it would have had in busy times of the year.

Bookings returning to pre pandemic levels

Many agents are starting to report that bookings are finally catching up with pre-pandemic levels. The boost comes on the back of the announcement that day two tests will be scrapped when returning to the UK for the double jabbed from 11th February, boosted by ministers in Wales finally removing advice advising people not to go on foreign holidays. Northern Ireland has also followed Westminster in removing travel restrictions for vaccinated arrivals from February 11.

Despite this good news there is still a feeling that the lengthy and complicated passenger locator forms are putting some people off travelling, so much so that UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps pledged to ‘simplify’ the forms. Shapps told the House of Commons that the government would “simplify” the Passenger Locator Form, “making it quicker and easier to complete”. From the end of February, arrivals will be given an extra day to fill out the form before they travel.

Spain could ban single-jabbed British Children

According to The Daily Telegraph, Spain’s government has ruled that only fully jabbed Britons will be allowed in after it classed the UK as a "high risk" country. To date only 12% of 12-15 year olds have had two jabs, meaning over two million children could be barred from enjoying a Spain holiday until they take their second jab. In a further blow to holidays in Spain, the country will not accept certificates from those who have recently recovered from COVID-19, despite accepting it from other countries. The UK Foreign Office said: "If you’re travelling to Spain for tourism purposes, you cannot use the UK proof of Covid-19 recovery record certifying that you have recovered from Covid-19 in the last 6 months."

Check in with us again next week for more travel news and updates!