Britain: Ryanair and several British airports are suing the government

The airline Ryanair and many British airports are now suing the British government demanding more transparency about the health measures applied to international travel.

The lawsuit will be filed in the morning, the group clarified MAG (Manchester Airports Group) managing its airports Manchester and Stansted of London. The group said that, in addition to Ryanair, other airlines will support the lawsuit and subscribe to the relevant documents, according to APE.

The aim is to force the British Government to explain how it makes its decisions to compile the ‘green’, ‘orange’ and ‘red’ lists of countries corresponding to the degree of risk to public health in relation to the covid pandemic; 19 and govern international travel from the United Kingdom. The aviation sector has been criticizing the inconsistencies and regressions of the British authorities in recent weeks, arguing that Europe’s sunny tourist destinations are safe given the progress of vaccination and the reduction of the disease.

Following the removal of Portugal, no European country is on the “green” list, which allows travelers to return to the UK without quarantine. Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Portugal are on the “orange” list, which forces travelers from these countries to stay in quarantine for up to ten days and pay for two diagnostic tests. The “red” list requires travelers to be quarantined at a hotel at their own expense.

“The movement management system is a disaster”

The lawsuit is filed directly against the Ministers of Health and Transport and concerns the opaque way decisions are made, which makes it difficult for travelers to book their stay and for airlines and airports to resume activities. their. “Recent developments have led to the conclusion that the government does not want to open up international travel by including low-risk countries on the green list,” said Charlie Cornis, CEO of MAG. “Most countries seem to be crammed into the orange list for no apparent reason,” despite the fact that the case rate is lower than in the United Kingdom, he says.

For Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, “the British transportation management system is a complete disaster from the start.” “We call on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to explain the scientific basis of the system… and to implement a transparent data-driven model that can restore confidence before the critical summer months,” he said. For its part, the British government announced yesterday that it would “consider the role of vaccinations” for passengers arriving in the United Kingdom. International travel decisions “are constantly being re-evaluated and based on a set of health factors,” said a spokesman for the British government.