By Andrew Atkinson
A plethora of flights from the UK arrived at Alicante-Elche airport on May 18 – with UK flights set to re-commence on May 21 at Murcia Corvera airport.
Dozens of arrivals are scheduled for Alicante-Elche this week on the back of flights from Manchester, London, Glasgow, Doncaster, amongst others, on Tuesday.
Spain was put on the Amber travel list by the UK this month, despite calls that it is safe to travel to Spain, which is deemed as having significantly reduced the coronavirus cases numbers, and are currently vying for promotion to the green list of travelling.
The UK government coronavirus legislation still equires 10 days of quarantine after returning from abroad.
After NO flights at Alicante-Elche airport on May 19 from the UK, the opposite occurred with 12 flights to and from London, including British Airways flights.
Thousands of UK people who have residencia are set to arrive in the coming weeks.
However there are a reported 70,000 non-resident UK nationals who remain in ‘no mans land’ being officially unable to set foot in the Costa Blanca.
Reports of UK PM Boris Johnson reconsidering the veto to Spain could be announced, amid the advance of vaccination that has lead to a reduction of COVID-19 cases.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic Spain has lost a reported billion euros in tourism alone.
Flights from Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, London, Liverpool and Manchester arrived at Alicante-Elche airport on May 20.
Spain Minister of Tourism Reyes Maroto says confidence is high in that the country can be given a ‘green’ corridor passage soon, despite PM Johnson currently advising not to travel to Spain, due to it being a country on the amber list of in coronavirus cases.
Hotels in Spain are reopening, awaiting the arrivals of British tourists, after the reopening of bars and restaurants that were closed once again during the latest lengthy lockdown legislations, that ended this month.
Murcia based Corvera airport will welcome Ryanair flights from Manchester as of May 21 in the wake of a reduction of 98% of flights during COVID-19 in the last year, plus.
Corvera airport will also receive flights from Birmingham from June 1; Bournemouth from June 4; and scheduled flights from Glasgow from June 15, pending ‘traffic light’ classification, which is reviewed every three weeks, based on coronavirus numbers.
Flights to Corvera are also returning from Antwerp, and Brussels-Charleroi with TUI.
The ‘Stay in the UK’ regulations were lifted by the Government on May 17 with travelling no longer illegal.
Spain-UK non essential travel ban is in place until May 31 for third country nationals.
Pre-departure and post-arrival coronavirus tests have to be undertaken by those travelling within certain frame times.
The first passengers jetted off from Manchester airport on May 19 – heading for Portugal after a ban on overseas travel was lifted, with Portugal being placed on the green list.
“It is a symbolic moment after the most difficult year in our history,” said Manchester Airport Group chief executive Charlie Cornish.
“The resumption of international travel is an important milestone but the limited green list is not the broader restart our sector or our passengers were hoping for.
“This big step forward would recognise the scientific evidence which shows that vaccinations, and the effective use of testing, can support safe travel to a much larger group of low-risk countries,” added Manchester Airport Group chief executive Charlie Cornish.
The UK Government is advising people not to make non-essential trips to locations on its amber list, which includes Spain, France, Italy and Greece, a guidance which is expected to be ignored by some holidaymakers.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said people should not travel to amber or red list countries, unless it’s absolutely necessary, and certainly not for holiday purposes.
“The red and amber list countries are places that you shouldn’t go to unless you have an absolutely compelling reason,” he said.
