Britain must set out how it will ease coronavirus travel restrictions, EasyJet's chief executive said today, a day after the UK government tightened already strict travel rules in a further blow for airlines.
Johan Lundgren, EasyJet CEO, said there was strong demand for leisure travel.
But he said the success of what could be a make-or-break summer for Europe's airlines depends on the effectiveness of vaccines against new variants of the coronavirus.
"Most important now is that the government comes out with a plan on how they're going to unwind these restrictions," Lungren told a CAPA online aviation conference.
"I'm positive for a strong summer if the vaccination programmes are successful, if it works on the variants then we know that there's a big urgent need for the government to unwind these restrictions," he said.
Airlines and travel companies are desperate for a summer recovery after Covid-19 wiped out most of their revenues for close to a year.
But the UK government has tightened travel restrictions to guard against new variants.
Holidays are already banned under lockdown rules, and ministers refuse to say how long that could last.
Earlier today, the transport minister told people not to book trips abroad or at home for the summer.
For the small number of people permitted to fly for essential reasons, the rules get tougher from February 15, when travellers must take three Covid-19 tests, and arrivals from high-risk countries must shell out £1,750 to quarantine in a hotel.
EasyJet plans to fly no more than 10% of 2019's capacity in January-March, down from 18% in September-December.
The airline has been less vocal in forecasting a bumper summer compared to competitors such as Ryanair and budget upstart Wizz Air.
"I don't think we are more cautious - just that we don't boast about anything while you know there's insignificant amounts of flying," Lundgren said when asked about the different approaches, adding that EasyJet's was "more prudent".
