Covid lockdown UK: Hundreds queue before 6AM at Heathrow and Gatwick

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Hundreds of passengers queued before 6am at Heathrow and Gatwick this morning as airports expect their busiest day of the year, with the easing of global travel restrictions predicted to trigger a stampede as the Government’s traffic light system comes into force today. 

Holidaymakers revealed they are flying to the Algarve in southern Portugal for the first time since the end of last year as the traffic light system – which rates countries as green, amber, or red based on the risk of importing coronavirus – springs into action amid a further easing of lockdown.

An analysis by MailOnline has found that Heathrow and Gatwick are operating at least 340 flights to amber list countries today, including 21 trips to Paris, nine to Rome and 26 to New York City. Manchester Airport told the Times it was expecting to handle 91 flights today – up two thirds on last Monday. 

So far, just 12 countries including Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel have been listed as green destinations, meaning they are free to travel without quarantining on their return to Britain. Those travelling to one of 43 red list countries including India, where the new, more infectious variant taking hold in Bolton and Blackburn was first traced, must isolate in a hotel for 10 days at a cost of £1,750 upon arriving back to the UK. 

Queues starting at Terminal 5 early this morning, with check-in taking longer as airline staff checked documentation that all passengers were covid-free while BA staff stood at the entrance handing out chocolates to passengers as they said: ‘Welcome back to flying. We’ve missed you.’  

Stephen Bough, a 51-year-old company director travelling to Faro with his wife Lucy, 51, and daughter Hannah, 20, said: ‘It’s a fantastic feeling, it’s like being free again. And it’s another step on the road to getting back to normal life. I can’t wait to get back in the sun and just relax because it’s been a very difficult year for us all.’

Hannah said: ‘The first thing I’m going to do when I get to our house is have a cocktail and get in the pool.’ Meanwhile, streams of passengers piled off the Gatwick Express as they took flights to Portugal, Jersey and Jamaica, as well as Antigua, Barcelona, Belfast, Cancun, Guernsey, Paris and Rome.

It was not immediately clear if travellers will be using the NHS app to prove they have been vaccinated, after an update for users in England last night effectively made the app a covid passport.

The Government has shelved the idea of using covid status certificates for pubs and restaurants but is reviewing their use for mass events like sports stadiums and business conferences, and larger indoor venues like theatres. The change was brought in with little fanfare, but sparked fears among MPs and privacy campaigners that any such system could be discriminatory and a breach of human rights.  

But Matt Hancock caused chaos last night after telling people not to go on holiday to whole swathes of Europe despite most of the continent being on the amber list, as scientists claimed much of the landmass was unvaccinated and therefore more vulnerable to covid variants.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng echoed the Health Secretary’s confusing calls this morning as he told Sky: ‘People are allowed to do things but it doesn’t mean everyone should be going away at the same time. I think urging caution makes sense. Yes we can go to another country, but we should take caution.’ 

The remarks were slammed by travel bosses who accused the Government of needlessly ‘instilling fear’ by discouraging overseas holidays. One industry executive suggested No10’s real concern was a shortage of border staff to police arrivals following scenes of chaos at passport arrivals at Heathrow earlier in the year. 

No10 has come under pressure from aviation bosses to add France, Greece, Spain, the US and the Caribbean to the green list ‘early next month’, with Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye telling Sky News: ‘We want to ensure British towels are on the sun loungers this summer.’  

But Labour yesterday called for a ‘slow down’ in the lifting of the travel ban, and accused Boris Johnson of ignoring science after he allegedly delayed putting India on the red list so he could strike a trade deal with New Delhi – despite a variant bringing that country’s health system to the brink of collapse.    

As the coronavirus lockdown was further eased today, it emerged:

• The PM urged families to adopt ‘caution’ with the ban on indoor socialising and hugs finally ending;
• The number of Britons given their second coronavirus vaccine reached 20million yesterday;
• An update to the NHS app allowed for proof of jab status as pubs and restaurants allow customers indoors;
• Mr Hancock said ministers were confident existing vaccines would work against the new Indian strain;   
• Just four virus-related deaths were recorded yesterday, but cases rose by eight per cent in a week to 2,000;  
• Long queues formed outside vaccination centres in Bolton, where the Indian covid variant has surged.

Travellers at London Heathrow are rushing to catch the first flights to green list Portugal and Gibraltar, as airport staff were seen giving excited passengers bound for Europe gift bags as they arrived at check-in. 

Some people, including 21-year-old Michelle Clark, admitted she was ‘quite nervous’ about getting through security, which has been beefed up with temperature scanners to meet covid safety requirements. 

Care home worker Theresa Depino, who is travelling with a friend to Faro, revealed that her holiday to Portugal is her first holiday since September. 

‘It has been a really long winter for me with the lockdown and trying to keep the care home going all through the last year so it will be so nice,’ she told MailOnline.  ‘I am just going to sleep and get in the sun and relax for a week, I have earned it.’

Mike, Sharon, Isabella and Evan, who declined to give their surnames, said: ‘We are so excited to get away, this is our first holiday for almost two years. 

‘We are heading to Portugal for a couple of weeks and staying in an Airbnb. We just want to get some sun really and to escape the rain. We have been stuck in the country for literally two years now so it is just so nice for us to get away. So far we haven’t really got any plans for when we get there. 

‘We are just going to see what it is like when we are over there but we just want to see the sun!’ 

Businessman James Fitzgerald, 42, revealed that he booked his flight just minutes after the Government placed Portugal on the green list of countries.

He beamed: ‘I feel like a free man again and I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, as have a lot of other people in the country, so I don’t mind going through a few extra checks.

‘I’m a very keen golfer and am just looking forward to playing a few rounds, enjoying the sun, the beach and having a few drinks. It’s been a very tough year and being able to go on holiday will give all of us a lift.’

Michael Cohen, 56, who owns a holiday home in the Algarve, said: ‘I feel like a prisoner whose just been released. It’s been a long time coming. I just want to lie in the sun and enjoy the beach.

‘I must admit that I’m a bit nervous about flying and there’s a lot more paperwork to organise if you want to get on a plane. But it’s really worth it because I could do with a really nice holiday.’

Jessie Redhead, 32, smiled and said: ‘Freedom and it’s wonderful. The first thing I’m doing after I get to my hotel is to get in my bikini and hit the beach. I’m desperate for a bit of sun.’

All passengers flying to the country had to provide a negative PCR test and complete a Portuguese Government passenger locator form. Even airline staff admitted that they were excited about the return of passengers.

BA ground staff member Jurian, who was standing at the entrance to Terminal 5 handing out chocolates, said: ‘At times over the past year the airport has been like a ghost town. So, we’re just happy to see people back and hope that things return to normal very soon.

‘It’s a great day not just for the travellers but also for us.’

Essy Kamaie, a passenger on the first green-list flight from Gatwick Airport to Faro in Portugal, said he was ‘excited’ to travel abroad after having a previous holiday cancelled, and booked his ticket only two hours before the flight.

Mr Kamaie, a 65-year-old property developer, said while waiting in the queue for the plane: ‘I’m excited, I was disappointed because I booked to go to Malaga but I’ve been refused, I have a property there and we couldn’t go but I’m now going to Faro.

‘It was very easy actually, it was all online, we booked it this morning at about 7.30 – a few hours ago.’

Kevin and Pauline Nash from Essex were among the first to board a green-list flight to Portugal from Gatwick Airport. In the queue for the plane to Faro, Mr Nash, a company chairman, 66, said: ‘We’re very excited to go on holiday, we haven’t been since last September.

‘This is the first time we’ve booked and it’s the first flight out, so we’re delighted – and it’s been a long, cold winter at home so we’re looking forward to it.’

When asked about what it was like booking the journey and going through the airport with coronavirus measures in place, he added: ‘It’s been a great experience so far, very smooth, the airport has been particularly empty which is nice, no hitch at all.’

When asked what they planned to do in Faro, he said: ‘Open the doors of our villa and look out to sea and just go ‘Ahhh’.’ Ms Nash, a housewife, 54, added: ‘And then get a cocktail. ‘It’s just the freedom again to be able to do this – and it feels safe.’

Royal Mail postman Gary Underdown, 33, has said he was ‘shocked’ at how quickly he and his family got through airport security on the morning of their flight to Faro in Portugal.

Travelling from Gatwick Airport with his partner Georgina Raven, who also works for Royal Mail, and their young son, he said: ‘We can’t wait to get there, we’ve been waiting a long time.’

When asked what they plan to do in Faro, he said: ‘Not a lot. We’re key workers, we work for Royal Mail, we’ve been working a lot and very hard for the last year so we just want a break.

‘Sit at the pool, do nothing, walk up into the mountains, that’s all we want to do.’

On getting through the airport with coronavirus measures in place on the first day of green list travel, he said: ‘I was shocked, we got here really early expecting the six-hour queues, and we walked straight to the front, straight through and sat there for three-and-a-half hours waiting.’

Grandfather Robert Hatfield is travelling to Bahrain to be reunited with his grandchildren: ‘This will be the first time in a long time, it is getting on for two years since I have seen them,’ he said.

‘The internet has helped but it doesn’t make up for it physically. I would not have been so quick off the mark if my very cute three-year-old granddaughter hadn’t kept asking when she was next going to see me.

‘I had a very strong bond with my grandparents when I was a child, a week seemed a long time when I was three so a year or 18 months is an eternity. I was just concerned she would forget who I was.’

The 67-year-old, who is travelling for two weeks, added: ‘I am really lucky to have had both vaccinations, so I am really happy to be travelling and Bahrain has had really good uptake.

‘I have made some really good friends over there so I am looking forward to seeing them and getting into the sun. But, most of all, I can’t wait to see my daughter and my grandchildren.’

Holidaymaker Bruce Smith said: ‘We are off for a holiday and a bit of work in Portugal, we just want to rest and relax as safely as possible. I am a director of an engineering company and it has been tough.

‘It has been our busiest year ever, people have not been able to go away so they have put all their money into landscaping and tree surgery instead, at least some good has come out of it. The last year has been manic so I will be doing as little as possible. We are going for a week and I just want to forget about work.’

The 47-year-old from Devon is confident he can avoid any travel hiccups: ‘I am not worried about getting back here, I am a little bit concerned about getting there but the Portuguese don’t seem worried. Our tests here came back really fast so I think we will be fine.’

 Retired couple Keith and Janice Tomsett, aged 72 and 71, from West Chiltington in West Sussex, were ‘looking forward to’ their break to the Portugese island of Madeira. 

As they prepared to board their flight at Gatwick Airport’s north terminal, Mr Tomsett said: ‘We’ve gone through all the hoops, PCR testing… after 15 months of being locked up this is unbelievably good.’

He joked: ‘It was even worth getting up at 3 o’clock this morning’. The couple, who are both vaccinated against Covid-19, said they found their pre-flight drive through testing at the airport ‘easy’, but Mr Tomsett expressed frustration at the need to complete another test after returning to England from their holiday. 

He said: ‘We’re fully vaccinated, we’re going to a green list country and we will be having a test 48 hours before we fly, so why we have to have another one two days later I do not understand.’ 

Both travellers, who booked their holiday in October on the ‘off chance’ it would go ahead, said they would not travel to Madeira if it was not on the green list. 

The pair said they did not have any health worries and would take ‘the normal safe guards’.

Commenting on the Government’s green list of quarantine-free destinations, Mr Tomsett said: ‘I think you have to err on the side of caution. They’ve probably taken more caution than they need. But I’ve never got Covid and I wouldn’t want to go there.’ 

Some passengers catching flights at Gatwick Airport on Monday morning were travelling to amber list destinations. Nathan Priestley, 31, from Wokingham in Berkshire, was heading to Corfu with five friends. 

Asked if he minded having to quarantine after returning to England from the Greek island he said: ‘For me, I work from home at the moment so it’s neither here nor there. I’m still fairly young and fairly active. I haven’t had anything wrong with me, nothing underlying, so for me, a negative test and away you go.’ 

Speaking to MailOnline, business traveller Yaseen Akhtarwas, 28, worried about the impact holidaymakers might have on the airport. ‘I have been travelling for work all through lockdown,’ he said. 

‘We had to move our office to Amsterdam because of Brexit so I have been back and forth.

‘It is busier than it has been. Travelling through lockdown has been a nuisance, coming back last month it was a mess. I waited here for three hours to get back and having to book the two tests is expensive.

‘It is going to be packed unless they sort it out, it was already packed last month with only business travellers so they need to get more staff on the desks here. I am really looking forward to getting away for a holiday, I think it will be quite a while till I get one though.’

Travel bosses are urging the Government to add ‘most of Europe’ to the green list as soon as possible after Mr Hancock caused chaos during a media round yesterday by telling people not to fly out to amber list countries – most of Europe – for holidays. 

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye stressed the need for France, Greece and Spain to be added to the green list this summer, and the US and Caribbean ‘early next month’.

He said: ‘The travel industry continues to face real pressure. As is well known, the profits travel companies make in the summer are used to help drive them through the rest of the year.

‘Without that season many companies will not make it until next year. That is half a million UK jobs at risk. This is not a choice between profits and public health, we can have both.’

Mr Holland-Kaye stressed that the industry had significantly more tools at its disposal this year than it did in 2020 to keep passengers safe.

He highlighted new and improved testing facilities, social distancing measures, stringent cleaning procedures and the impact of vaccines on the risk of transmission.

But he called for an end to the ‘burden’ of high cost PCR tests on fully vaccinated passengers, saying that the risk of transmission halved among those who had received two doses of the jab.

He called on the Government to move towards a system where passengers took lateral flow tests first, adding that gold standard PCR tests could then be used to confirm positive results.

Mr Holland-Kaye also called on the Government to cut VAT on Covid tests, to help drive down the prices.

He added: ‘We are ready to go. We have spent the last year adapting to these unprecedented changes. We are not calling for a return to unregulated travel yet. But we are calling on the Government to expand the green list at the beginning of June, particularly to include the US and the Caribbean.

‘We also want to remove the need for fully vaccinated customers to take a test and remove VAT to bring the cost down.’ 

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren, speaking on Gatwick Airport’s runway today, said: ‘I am optimistic about (summer holidays later this year) because the latest data that is available means that most of Europe could actually go on to that green list of destinations, and I urge the Government to look at and exercise that data.

‘That is what I’m expecting to happen, because that is what’s happening as we speak right now in the rest of Europe. Otherwise the Germans are going to beat the Brits to the sun loungers and for no good reason at all.’

When asked how it felt to be welcoming the first holidaymakers on to planes for several months, he said: ‘I’m so excited, as is everyone who works in easyJet as well, and also the passengers that are now onboard as well.

‘Today is an important day because now people can actually start to travel, and now we’re just looking for that green list of countries to be expanded, which we believe it is safe to do so because that is what the latest data suggests that scientifically that can be done.’

Mr Lundgren said the ‘success of the vaccination programme’ in the UK and Europe has been ‘key’ to allowing foreign travel, on the first day that people have been allowed to fly from England and Wales to green list countries. 

When asked if there were blue skies ahead for the travel industry, he said: ‘I believe so, and the key to that is clearly the success of the vaccination programme that is now being rolled out, not only in the UK but we also see that taking place across many other European markets.

‘That is the key to restarting travel in a safe way.’ He added: ‘The latest data suggests that most of Europe could actually already from right now go on to that green list of categories.

‘And we know there is huge pent-up demand for people to not only go on holidays but to visit friends and family that they haven’t been able to see because of the pandemic and the fact that it has been illegal to travel so it’s a big day today for us.’ 

He added: ‘I believe that the green list is cautious, but it’s a first step because the travel ban is removed.’

British Airways boss Sean Doyle told BBC Breakfast that the pandemic ‘has been tough for our people’ as he proclaimed: ‘It’s great to see all of our staff back today. They can’t wait to meet our customers and they’re very excited to be part of rebuilding aviation.’

Asked if travellers will face increased prices, Mr Doyle responded: ‘What we’re seeing are very competitive prices out there but also great flexibility. So I think in terms of creating options to book, it’s kind of the best of both worlds today for travellers. There’s a lot of airlines out there competing for business, and we will always be competitive.’ 

Mr Doyle added that he expects travel restrictions to be eased for countries which are ‘vaccinating at pace’. He said: ‘The US has vaccinated 59 per cent of all adults, and infections are falling, so we’d be very optimistic about the United States.

‘And if we look at places like Germany and you look at France, again they’re making great progress, as is Europe. So we think Europe and the US certainly should be in scope for inclusion in the green list as we see the trends on vaccination and prevalence.’

Mr Doyle said the airline has received ‘an awful lot of interest’ from people planning trips ‘to reunite with their loved ones’. Speaking from Heathrow Airport, he told BBC Breakfast: ‘There’s a human cost to this, in that a lot of people have been separated from friends and family for over 12 months now.

‘That’s a segment that we see grow, and a lot of people who are here today are taking part in the opportunity to reunite after a long period of separation.’ 

Paul Charles, chief executive and founder of the respected travel firm The PC Agency, accused the Government of ‘trying to play down travel’ because of concerns about border staff shortages. 

He said: ‘The Government has to change its message. It is not illegal to travel, you can travel safely and responsibly to any country if they will let you in. 

‘And many British travellers will want to see their families who they haven’t seen in over a year. Now is the time to travel safely. But they are still trying to instil fear into people at a time when the most vulnerable have been jabbed and mortalities are at a record low.’

The travel expert said that ticket sales data showed that people were ignoring the amber list advice and booking trips to coincide with the end of the official travel ban.

Booking website Skyscanner found bookings to Italy increased by 63 per cent week on week once the relaxation of travel restrictions was announced. Bookings to France rose by 41 per cent and Spain bookings went up by 39 per cent. In comparison, bookings to Portugal rose by 616 per cent.

Mr Charles added: ‘The traffic light system is in danger of being out of date before the bulk of it comes into practice because people will vote with their feet.’

Tim Alderslade, of industry body Airlines UK, said: ‘The whole point of the tiers system is that restrictions are built in to mitigate the risk. We strongly believe that the green list can be extended at the next review point to include the most popular European destinations and the United States.’ 

Almost the whole of Europe, North America and large parts of the Middle East and East Asia are on the Government’s amber list, with people returning from these countries required to quarantine. However, they can leave isolation if they have a negative PCR test taken on day five. 

Tour operators including Tui, easyJet Holidays and British Airways Holidays are planning to run trips to countries including Malta, Antigua and the Canary Islands – with Tui yesterday offering up to 51 per cent off holidays to the Canaries as early as next week. 

The Government has said it will review the green list every three weeks, starting early next month. 

Critics have warned that tougher action should have been taken sooner against India, which was only added to the ‘red list’ on April 23, two weeks after neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh – despite reports that the virus was bringing the country’s health system to the brink of collapse. 

Yesterday Mr Hancock defended the timing of travel restrictions on India but dodged questions on whether the decision was linked to Downing Street’s planned trade mission.

The Health Secretary argued in a round of interviews that testing rates were lower in Pakistan at the time, and that the proportion of arrivals testing positive for covid was three times higher than from India.

But data from Public Health England shows that 4.8 per cent of the 3,345 people landing in Britain from India between March 25 and April 7 tested positive, compared to just 0.1 per cent of people in England.

Official figures also show Bolton and Blackburn are the most infectious parts of the country, with a doubling in cases in the past week largely as a result of the more transmissible Indian variant.

It is the latest statistic to be brandished at Mr Johnson, with pressure growing over his decision to delay banning travel from the Asian nation until late April amid allegations that he refrained from doing so for fear of offending Narendra Modi and torpedoing the chance to strike a major trade deal.

Labour chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee Yvette Cooper called for a ‘slow down’ in the easing of travel restrictions alongside her colleague Steve Reed, the Shadow Communities Secretary, who accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of ‘not always following the science in the way he ought to be doing’.

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran alleged Mr Johnson ‘put the pursuit of a post-Brexit trade deal with India ahead of public health’, adding that a public inquiry must examine whether the decision was political or scientific.

Though SAGE scientist Professor John Edmunds urged the country not to panic over the new variant, which is not thought to be vaccine resistant, he admitted that the spread of the variant could have been delayed had the border to India been closed more quickly. This could prove to be critical as No10 accelerates its vaccine roll-out so that a million jabs are given out per day in a race against the variant.

On the way to freedom! You can drink inside a pub, go the movies, hug or take a foreign holiday from TODAY as Covid lockdown rules are eased further despite concern at Indian variant

Life will take a step closer to normality from tomorrow as more restrictions are removed giving the green light for people to go to sport, drink in a pub and hug people – sensibly.

As of Monday groups of six or two households will be allowed to meet indoors for the first time in months and overnight visits will also be allowed.

The changes come amid concerns about the rising numbers of the Indian variant of Covid-19, with the Government insisting it is ‘taking nothing off the table’ in the fight against it. 

Outdoors the limit will rise to 30 in the most significant loosening yet while people will also be able to fly abroad to countries on the green list.

Some revellers were so excited for the new rules to come into place they went to their favourite pubs and bars at the stroke of midnight to celebrate their new freedom. 

There will be relief for the entertainment sector as cinemas and theatres can reopen if people wear masks and hotels and B&Bs which do not have self-catering facilities are permitted to open.

Preston Benson, one of the UK’s leading independent cinema experts, and Founder of Really Local Group, heralded their return, saying: ‘After 15 months of disruption, cinema fans will be spoilt for choice as the studios begin releasing an exciting mix of independent films, such as the Oscar winning Nomadland and many delayed Blockbuster films such as A Quiet Place II, Disney’s Cruella, Black Widow and Fast & Furious 9. The studios rightly held back these films until cinemas were allowed to re-open in the knowledge that the traditional distribution model is best for business and we look forward to welcoming customers back in the coming weeks.’ 

The much-criticised cap on the number of mourners at funerals will be lifted, while up to 30 people will be allowed at weddings and other life events.

Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked the public for their commitment as he said infections were now at the ‘lowest level since last July’.

He said: ‘The data now support moving to step three in England from next Monday 17th May.’