The Ryanair Group and the Manchester Airports Group are suing the UK government's controversial travel light. The two plaintiffs are of the opinion that the government would thus prevent the recovery of air traffic.

The background to this is that the UK system currently provides that from the “yellow” rating onwards, both test and quarantine must be taken when entering the UK. In the case of “red”, isolation in a hotel is necessary at your own expense. A negative PCR test is only sufficient if you are entering from an area marked “green”. Vaccinations and recoveries do not provide any relief.

The UK's aviation and travel industries are harshly criticizing the government for yellowing states with significantly lower incidences than the UK. For example, Portugal was last on the Amber List. Another example is Malta, which is popular with the British. Airlines and tour operators report that they are currently inundated with cancellation requests with reference to the yellow classification. Easyjet is therefore even relocating planes from the UK to Germany.

"The currently completely opaque way in which decisions are made undermines consumer confidence in the traffic light system and makes it impossible for airports, airlines and other travel companies to plan for the recovery of international travel," the Financial Times quoted one Ryanair manager.

The head of the Manchester Airports Group is blowing a similar horn. He spoke to the FT about the fact that "international travelers would be wrongly labeled as a scapegoat". Furthermore, the system is "unsuitable" and on top of that not comprehensible, since destinations with very low incidences are marked in yellow. The manager cites the Greek islands, the Canaries and the Balearic Islands as examples. Boris Johnson categorically rejected changes or loosening of the travel light in various media statements.