Holiday race is on as firms fight to rescue £20bn peak summer season

Passengers board an Easyjet domestic flight at an airport in the United Kingdom
AFP via Getty Images

Holiday operators reported a sudden surge in bookings for Mediterranean villas offering “privacy and space” today following reports that air bridges to leading European destinations will be available from next week .

A scramble to save a peak summer season worth up to £20 billion was under way ahead of an expected formal announcement on Monday that the much criticised quarantine rules for travellers returning to Britain will start to be eased.

The first wave of countries that holidaymakers are likely to be allowed to visit, without going into self-isolation on return, are likely to include Spain, France, Italy and Greece.

The biggest British-based airline easyJet today responded with confirmation that it will restart flights to dozens of its most popular summer destinations from July 1. Up to now, the only international route it has been operating since it resumed flights has been London to Nice.

But today chief commercial and strategy officer Robert Carey said cities such as Paris, Milan and Barcelona, and beach holiday destinations such as Majorca and the Canary Islands would be back next month.

In total easyJet plans to fly around 50 per cent of its 1,022 routes next month, increasing to around 75 per cent in August, although with a lower frequency of flights.

This equates to just 30 per cent of normal July to September capacity. More than one million seats will be on offer from only £29.99 for travel between July 1 and October 31.

News of the likely lifting of quarantine has triggered a spike in bookings for villas and small islands, although mass market package holidays in huge hotels are proving harder to sell.

Paul Charles, of the travel consultancy PC Agency, said villa bookings were running at around 30 per cent up on last year across the industry.

Passengers wear protective face masks and gloves at an airport
Getty Images

He said: “There is huge amount of demand for villa holidays. People want private spaces, privacy and space. Islands and small destinations are the most popular but mass-market holidays are still not seeing lift-off.”

Clapham-based European villa specialist Oliver’s Travels said that yesterday was the biggest booking day in its history. Over the past two weeks its bookings have been running at 72 per cent up on last year, with France 186 per cent higher.

However, industry leaders said that only about 20 to 25 per cent of the overall summer season for Europe could be rescued because of a continuing reluctance to fly and the lack of clear guidance from the Government.

Noel Josephides, director of industry affairs at the trade body AITO and chairman of the Sunvil tour operator, said of the creation of air bridges: “It is a start, it will save part of the summer season but far less than people think.

“It’s not a matter of just switching everything on and saying ‘now you can go on holidays’. The majority of people booked to go have held on to their final balances. They will all have to be contacted and asked ‘do you want to go or not?’ I suspect a proportion will decline.”

Major package holiday operators were today still offering deep discounts for breaks in late July, normally regarded as the start of the peak of the summer rush. Travel giant Tui was today advertising seven nights at the Cinqo Plazas Apartments in Lanzarote reduced from £746 to £542 per person for a July 27 departure from Gatwick. Air bridges that will mean passengers no longer have to go into quarantine are likely to be set up in three waves, according to industry insiders.

The first, next month, will mainly include short-haul destinations in Europe. The second phase, in late July, or August, will mainly cover mid-haul destinations such as Morocco or Turkey, although Hong Kong and Singapore could also be included. Finally, towards the end of the summer, it is thought likely that more exotic long-haul destinations such as Vietnam and Thailand will be removed from the quarantine list.

However, an air bridge to America is not thought likely before November at the earliest because of its huge number of coronavirus cases.

Trips to Australia are also likely to be out of bounds until the end of the year. Today national carrier Qantas said it will axe 6,000 jobs — around a fifth of its workforce. The cuts equate to about a fifth of the airline’s workforce prior to the Covid-19 crisis.

Last week, the Australian government said its border would most likely remain closed into next year. UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the Commons Transport Select Committee yesterday there would be an announcement about air bridges on Monday.

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