Kirsty Mckenzie
JET2 is gearing up to add more flights from Scotland to Spain as soon as rules surrounding isolation for fully vaccinated tourists are relaxed.
The airline company is optimistic that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will follow England’s lead and allow Scots with both vaccinations to return from amber-listed countries without having to isolate.
This week, Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps announced that from July 19, arrivals who have been doubled jabbed for at least two weeks, will no longer need to quarantine.
Passengers will need to provide proof of their vaccination status in order to do so, however they will still require a pre-departure testing and day two testing measures.
In addition to this, children under the age of 18 are to be exempt from quarantine too if returning from amber countries.
With English holidaymakers no longer facing the threat of isolation, the travel firm is hoping Scotland will make the same announcement.
This week Sturgeon couldn’t give an answer to the question of whether or not the Scottish Government will adopt the new rules nnounced by the Transport Minister on July 8.
In one of her recent speeches, the First Minister said: “We will look carefully at the statement that’s been made in the UK, and we’ll come to a decision on that fairly soon in terms whether or not that will apply to people returning to Scotland.”
However, the FM said she won’t be ‘ruling anything out’, warning that Scotland is at a ‘fragile’ point in the pandemic.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2 said: “This is the news that UK holidaymakers have been looking forward to, as it finally signals a meaningful restart to international travel.
“Instead of a handful of destinations to choose from, this news means our customers can plan and look forward to flights and holidays across 40 Green and Amber list destinations this summer.
“We will be restarting flights and holidays to all Amber List destinations from July 19 2021 onwards and we are ready for the wave of demand that this long-awaited and very welcome news will bring.
He added: “With the Government looking to unlock restrictions from 19th July, we have been calling for international travel not to be left behind, so this is an extremely positive step forward for the travel industry. It is fantastic news for our customers who want nothing more than to get away, and we cannot wait to take them on their well-deserved holidays.
“We look forward to the Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments following suit and await further good news from the devolved nations
“Our teams have worked tirelessly to look after customers and independent travel agent partners throughout the pandemic. We have built up a huge amount of trust thanks to our response and with sunnier skies in view we cannot wait to get back to doing what we do best, which is looking after customers on their flights and holidays.
“We will of course continue to review our programme in line with further updates from the Government.”
READ MORE
