British Airways today caused panic for thousands of Britons rushing out to Portugal from May 17 after sending an official warning that their holiday could be illegal and they may be fined £5,000 each if they go.
The airline’s message to customers booked on to planes to Faro next week came just six days before the country is put on Britain’s ‘green list’ from Monday.
But the Foreign office and the Portuguese Government is yet to update its official travel guidance, which still rules out non-essential travel between the two countries.
In a message sent to passengers booked on flights from Heathrow to Faro, seen by The Independent, BA warns: ‘You can only travel internationally from England for legally permitted reasons. This does not include holidays.’
And adding to the confusion, BA has said that passengers must fill out a Declaration to Travel form, even though they are due to be axed from May 16. Failure to fill one in is punishable by a £5,000 fine and even arrest.
The message added: You may be required to show the form at the port of departure. It is an offence to enter a port of departure or embarkation point without a properly completed form if you are travelling internationally. Some job-related exemptions apply.
‘You may be issued with a fixed penalty notice and directed to return home if you do not have a valid reason for travel.’ The confusion over guidance is bad news for BA, whose flights to the Algarve are one of its few ‘Green List’ destinations.
The continuing chaos in the run up to the great getaway came as:
- Vaccine passport will be on the NHS app from next week so tourists can prove they have received two jabs on arrival at holiday hotspots;
- Caribbean islands are likely to be added to Green List next month – as travel bosses say Greece, Italy and Spain are also safe because less than 1 per cent of arrivals from there test positive for Covid;
- Every region of England saw zero Covid deaths at least once during the final week of April as weekly…