Irish no-frills airline Ryanair Holdings PLC and Manchester Airports Group (MAG) were yesterday to launch a legal challenge against the British government over its COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The legal action seeks greater transparency in how destinations are classified within the system, said MAG, which manages Manchester and London Stansted airports.
Britain’s COVID-19 risk system ranks destinations as green, amber or red, to determine quarantine and testing requirements when travelers return.
However, the recent reclassification of Portugal — from green to amber — sparked sector-wide anger.
The lawsuit is backed by a number of other airlines, MAG said.
“Recent developments suggest that the government is now unwilling to open up international travel by putting low risk countries on the green list,” MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish said.
“For most countries, the traffic light seems to be stuck on amber for no obvious reason, despite having prevalence rates much lower than the UK,” he said.
He added that the government was not being “open,” and needed to provide more clarity to enable the sector to plan ahead — and travelers to book with confidence.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary described the system as a “complete shambles.”
“This go-stop-go-stop policy is causing untold damage to the aviation industry and frustrating and upsetting millions of British families,” O’Leary said.
“We call on [British] Prime Minister Boris Johnson to explain the scientific basis behind this system that the government seems to make up as they go along,” he said.
Under the rules launched last month, Britons heading to low-risk “green” countries and territories simply take a virus test before and after they travel.
Those going to amber or red destinations must quarantine for 10 days after they return to Britain — in hotels for red-list arrivals — and take several COVID-19 tests.
The British government advises against travel to amber-listed countries unless for a limited number of exceptional reasons, which does not include holidays.
Meanwhile, only travelers who have British or Irish citizenship or residency rights can enter from red-list countries.
Earlier this month, the travel sector reacted with fury after Portugal was unexpectedly shifted from green to amber.
The move left no European nation on the green list.
The UK-based World Travel and Tourism Council declared last week that the British government must scrap the system, which it says has “wreaked havoc” among consumers and businesses, adding this would save hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,