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British airlines are concerned that the United Kingdom could remove Portugal from the list of countries free of quarantine.
After registering an increase in contagion cases in recent days, the British press advanced this Monday that Portugal is close to reaching the limits set by London, so it can return to the red list.
If so, tourists leaving the national territory are subject to mandatory quarantine upon arrival on British soil, which can discourage travel.
On August 22, Portugal was removed from the list of countries whose visitors must comply with the quarantine, prompting an increase in travel. Returning to the red list will cause “chaos”, considers the CEO of International Airlines Group, a holding company formed in 2010 as a result of the merger between British Airways and Iberia, which also includes Aer Lingus, Vueling and LEVEL, among others.
In an opinion piece in the newspaper TimesWillie Walsh writes that by constantly changing quarantine requirements, the UK “officially hangs up the ‘closed’ sign.”
“A new government investment, by adding Portugal to the quarantine list, will cause more chaos and adversity for travelers,” he warns.
The eventual return to the red list is due to the increase in the contagion rate in Portugal to 21.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants registered in the last week (when in the previous week there were 19.4 cases / 100,000 inhabitants). An argument that doesn’t make sense to Willie Walsh.
“The government is using arbitrary statistics to effectively ban 160 countries and the process is destroying the economy,” he condemns.
Before the pandemic, more than two million British tourists visited Portugal each year. The vast majority preferred the Algarve, where around 1.3 million tourists traveled last year.
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