Stansted Airport calls for the UK's travel corridor list to be more than doubled

The company which owns Stansted says the case for restarting international travel safely and at the earliest opportunity is clear.

A study, commissioned by Manchester Airports Group, suggested that if case rates this summer were similar to last year, passengers could start travelling to more than 130 countries such as Spain, the United States, and Dubai.

The report pointed to the success of the UK's vaccination programme which meant the number of countries on the travel ‘green list’, could be more than doubled without putting public health at risk.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has grounded all but essential flights and the aviation sector is faced with continuing uncertainty over when travel might resume.

Before the pandemic the airport had about 28 million passengers a year flying to almost 200 destinations. But in the last 12 months the number of passengers passing through its doors have dropped to levels last seen in 1994.

The study concluded that when vaccination programmes in other countries outside of the UK and the vaccination of those aged 17 and below are taken into consideration, the number of possible destinations could rise even further.

The report was based on a list of the 143 countries where estimates of COVID-19 prevalence were available.

Charlie Cornish, Group CEO of Manchester Airports Group which runs Stansted, said the industry had supported the strict measures throughout the pandemic, but now the case was now clear for more countries to be added to the safe list.

"The Government’s vaccination programme is the envy of the world and this study shows that unlocking travel to a wide range of destinations is one of the many ways in which the British public can benefit from its success," he added.