Sun-starved families rushed to book trips abroad yesterday following the expansion of the quarantine-free green list.
Travel firms reported an explosion in demand for destinations including the Balearic Islands, Malta, Madeira and some Caribbean countries.
Airlines scrambled to lay on dozens of extra flights and larger planes to meet demand as bookings for Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca surged 3,000 per cent.
Demand for Malta and Madeira soared by almost 1,500 per cent, according to Jet2.
The package holiday giant has laid on an extra 70 flights to the two islands, including a new route between Stansted and Malta.
Sun-starved families rushed to book trips abroad yesterday following the expansion of the quarantine-free green list. Travel firms reported an explosion in demand for destinations including the Balearic Islands, Madeira, and Malta (pictured)
Demand for Malta and Madeira soared by almost 1,500 per cent, according to Jet2. The package holiday giant has laid on an extra 70 flights to the two islands, including a new route between Stansted and Malta
Jet2 chief Steve Heapy said: ‘We knew there was a lot of pent-up demand out there but the response from our customers has been truly incredible.
‘Bookings to Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Malta and Madeira have gone through the roof, which shows just how much UK holidaymakers want to get away.’
BA is scrambling larger Airbus A320 and A321 planes to replace smaller A319s to deal with demand on some of the busiest routes.
EasyJet said it was laying on 50,000 more seats on planes destined for green list destinations over the next few months.
Ryanair announced an extra 200,000 seats for flights to Malta, Ibiza and Majorca in July, August and September. It also triggered a price war by offering tickets from as little as £19.99.
Travel chiefs said however that more countries should have been put on the green list. And they criticised the creation of a watchlist which means destinations can return to amber at very short notice, as with Portugal earlier this month.
Of the 16 destinations added to the green list by ministers on Thursday night, all but one were placed on the watchlist.
Travel chiefs said however that more countries should have been put on the green list. And they criticised the creation of a watchlist which means destinations can return to amber at very short notice, as with Portugal earlier this month
