All Booked Up And Britons Ready To Go, Go, Go!

Coronavirus: Getaway Boost

- Giles Sheldrick

Families will have summer holidays this year, a leading travel agent has promised.

Covid-19 and flight bans had looked set to dash the hopes of millions eager to banish the lockdown blues.

But in a statement that will bring a smile to many faces, Sunderland-based Hays Travel said the great getaway was on.

Chair Irene Hays, 66, said: “We have hundreds of thousands of people who have holidays booked and want to go away. And we hope they will.

“We know how important the tourist industry is to places like Spain, Portugal and Greece, and we think air bridges are the best way to make sure the summer holiday season still goes ahead.

“If people are assured by the Government that it is safe to do so, they will continue to book up – and at the moment prices are exceptional.”

Stampede

Ministers are looking at the creation of bilateral deals with countries that have a similar Covid-19 infection rate to the UK. Many are places Britons besiege each year.

If agreements are in place soon, it could mean families who have been forced to stay at home for more than 100 days since lockdown was announced on March 23 finally get to enjoy a foreign holiday without the threat of having to self-isolate once they return to the UK.

The Daily Express understands the imminent creation of air bridges would pave the way for a stampede to Mallorca, the Canaries, Tenerife, Lanzarote, the Algarve, Crete and Corfu.