Airlines and an airport operator have launched legal action against the UK government, it emerged on Friday, around the decision-making used by Westminster in coming up with rules governing overseas travel.
Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which owns East Midlands, London Stansted and Manchester airports, is leading the complaint, with support from easyJet, British Airways owner IAG, Ryanair and TUI.
The firms say that, despite the announcement of a relaxing of travel rules to allow fully-vaccinated travellers to avoid quarantine on return from ‘amber list’ countries, it was still unclear how the government was classifying destinations under its ‘traffic light’ system.
MAG, which is majority-owned by local authorities in the Greater Manchester area, laid out its case against Transport Secretary Grant Shapps at the High Court in London on Friday.
“British consumers need to understand how decisions are made so they can confidently plan their travel, which is why we are asking the government to provide the data and advice that is underpinning its decision making,” the chief executive officers of MAG and the four air operators said in a statement.
According to Reuters, the Department for Transport said it could not comment on legal proceedings, but noted that the traffic light system was in place to “cautiously manage” the risk of new Covid-19 variants entering Britain.
