Tour operators in half-term dash to find planes after Canaries, Maldives, Mykonos and Denmark are removed from UK quarantine list sparking scramble for seats over school break
- Airlines are facing a shortage of planes due to the sudden rise in demand
- Holidaymakers arriving from the four areas will no longer need to quarantine
- Easyjet has announced 180,000 additional seats to the Canary Islands
Tour operators are facing a shortage of planes over the half-term break after the Canary Islands, Maldives, Mykonos and Denmark were added to the government’s safe travel list.
Holidaymakers arriving from the Canaries, Maldives, Mykonos and Denmark will no longer need to quarantine, as the four areas have all been added to the list of air corridors.
Prices have soared as passengers rushed to book flights after the announcement.
A Ryanair flight to Tenerife leaving from London Stansted on Sunday and returning a week later will cost £596.61 while an EasyJet flight from Manchester to Tenerife on the same days will cost £746.98.
Tourists UK have return to the Canaries after the islands were added to the safe travel list (Pictured, tourists queuing in Lanzarote)
Travellers have rushed to book first flights to the Canary islands as the popular holiday destination has been added to the UK quarantine-free list (pictured, Gran Canaria)
The Greek island of Mykonos was also included in the travel corridors list (pictured, file photo of Mykonos)
The majority of airlines are struggling to increase capacity due to the sudden rise in demand
As airlines have reduced the number of flights during the pandemic they are facing a sudden rise in demand as they have been inundated with inquiries for next week- the end of the half-term for most English schools.
Jet2 and easyJet announced will resume flights to the Canaries from next week as traffic to the Skyscanner flights website increased by 137 per cent in the 30 minutes following the 5pm announcement.
John Hays, who runs tour operator Hays Travel, said to the Guardian: ‘We’ve done double the number of bookings across the group compared to the same time yesterday. But there’s virtually nobody flying. Prices have risen as passengers rushed to book flights after the announcement.
Prices have soared as passengers rushed to book flights after the announcement (pictured left Nyhavn harbor, Copenhagen, Denmark and right Himandhoo, Maldives)
‘The reports we’re getting is that it’s only [tour operator] Tui with any availability because they hadn’t cancelled flights.
‘The other guys, I’m told, are rushing to put capacity on, but the logistics at short notice of getting a plane crewed is not as easy as you might think.’
While airlines are struggling to increase capacity, Easyjet has announced 180,000 additional seats to the Canary Islands starting on the 2nd of November to the end of March 2021, with fares from £22.99.