Dale Keller, chief executive of the UK Board of Airline Representatives, has said that the the list of Red Countries was useful as it allowed the government to react speedily to the changing international situation.
The UK’s red list deters travel to some countries as it means passengers landing in the UK must quarantine in a government-sanctioned hotel at their own expense. It is the last remaining aspect of the traffic light system implemented for travellers after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.
Earlier this year there were about 150 countries on the UK’s red list. Now there are only seven — Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
“I don’t think we’ll see the red list vanishing and we don’t really support that because it’s a great mechanism for the government to have at its disposal,” Mr Keller said.
“You’re better off to have a red list than to start imposing restrictions when we’ve worked so hard to get them off.
“Whether or not there are countries on the list, you don’t want to remove the red list from policy because it allows the government to react quickly without applying a more intensive regime across the rest of world.”
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