Mad dash from the Balearics as tourists pay up to £1,000 to get off the islands and back to the UK before they go on the amber list overnight
- British favourites Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca were all upgraded to amber list
- Tourists paying inflated fees in a bid to avoid being subject to ten-day quarantine
- Double-jabbed people and those under 18 will still be able to return as normal
Tourists have paid up to £1,000 in a mad dash to get from the Balearics to the UK before the islands were put on the amber list overnight.
British favourites Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca were all upgraded to the amber list amid surging infection numbers across the archipelago – which were visited by 3.8million Britons a year before the pandemic.
Holidaymakers have since been paying inflated fees in a bid to avoid being subject to a ten-day quarantine upon their return if unvaccinated after the travel rules changed today.
Double-jabbed people and those under 18 will still be able to return from the islands quarantine free.
Tourists have been paying up to £1,000 to get from the Balearics to the UK before the islands go on the amber list overnight. Pictured: Passengers arriving at Manchester Airport from Ibiza on one of the last flights before the deadline
Tourists pictured returning to the UK from Ibiza before the 4am deadline after the Balearics were upgraded to the amber list
Travellers at Palma Airport in Majorca (pictured) yesterday told The Times that they had paid hundreds and even thousands of pounds extra for flights and Covid antigen tests in order to return early from their holidays and beat the deadline
Travellers at Palma Airport in Majorca yesterday told The Times that they had paid hundreds and even thousands of pounds extra for flights and Covid antigen tests in order to return early from their holidays and beat the 4am deadline.
Those making a mad dash back included father and son Miller and Cameron Fitzgerald, from Leicestershire, who paid more than £1,000 to get back.
Miller told the publication: ‘Cameron has had his first jab but has his driving test booked so didn’t want to quarantine.
‘I paid £600 for the [covid] tests and £400 for the flights. I wasn’t too surprised that it changed because it’s been pretty chaotic. So we just had to be ready. There’s no doubt that what should have been a cheap holiday hasn’t been.’
Holidaymakers have since been paying inflated fees in a bid to avoid being subject to a ten-day quarantine upon their return if unvaccinated. Pictured: Passengers arriving at Manchester Airport from Ibiza on one of the last flights before the deadline
Double-jabbed people and those under 18 will still be able to return from the islands quarantine free. Pictured: Tourists returning to the UK from Ibiza before the 4.00am deadline after the Balearics were upgraded to the amber list
Most of the UK tourists on the islands are young adults – many of whom have not yet been offered their second jab.
Thousands of others who have not yet left have been forced to cancel their holidays altogether.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps previously showed no sympathy for the thousands of Britons who could be affected by the sudden change to the travel list, telling them that uncertainty was a ‘fact of life’.
He said the reason the Balearics had been demoted to the amber list was because Covid case rates there had more than doubled.
Earlier this week industry experts warned the decision over the Balearic Islands would cause ‘disarray’ for thousands of holidaymakers and be a blow to travel firms.
Virginia Messina, senior vice president for the World Tourism Trade Council, told MailOnline: ‘This will throw summer holidays into disarray for tens of thousands of people.
‘Businesses given the lifeline of holidays to the Balearics will also be left floundering as bookings collapse and customers clamour for refunds, piling on further financial pressure. There may be some good news with Croatia and Bulgaria moving up the scale and being added to the green list.
‘But the overall impact is one of confusion, which will only deter more Brits from holidaying abroad as the summer season slips away.’
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