High Court rules in favour of government’s traffic light travel system
The High Court has ruled that the government’s traffic light system for travel was not unlawful, in yet another blow for the aviation sector.
A collection of the UK’s biggest airlines and airports, including BA owner IAG, Easyjet, Ryanair, and Manchester Airport Group, had challenged the transparency of the system.
As a result of the judgement, the government will not have to provide further information as to how it decides which countries face what set of restrictions.
Under the programme, countries are classed as “green”, “amber”, or “red” according to a number of different factors, with no restrictions for travel to green list destinations and mandatory hotel quarantine for red list ones.
However, in recent days the government shocked the industry by introducing an “amber plus” classification to cope with a surge in cases in France. Under this classification, those returning from France have to isolate for 10 days, despite the country being on the amber list.
The decision met with outrage from the sector. In a statement after today’s judgement was handed down, the claimants described it as “shambolic”.
“British businesses and consumers deserve to understand how the Government takes decisions on the traffic light system so that they can book their travel with confidence whether for business, visiting friends and family or simply taking a holiday”, they said.
“The way decisions have been taken to date has not been transparent and has created huge confusion and uncertainty for the British public. In a recent poll 80 per cent of UK consumers agreed.
“If the Government is truly following the data then it must make significant changes to the ‘green’ list including adding the US and major EU countries. There is also no reason why travellers from the US and EU should not be exempt from quarantine and testing as soon as possible.
“The UK has already fallen behind the EU’s reopening and our overly cautious approach to international travel will further impact our economic recovery.”
CityAM has contacted the Department for Transport for comment.