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Summary
- France has enforced tough travel restrictions from the UK amid concerns over Indian variant of coronavirus.
- Under the new rules, entry to France from the UK is only allowed for EU residents, French nationals, or for people travelling for essential purpose.
The French government has introduced strict new travel restrictions on arrivals from the UK from 31 May in wake of the surging Covid-19 cases due to the B.1.617.2 variant, also known as the Indian variant.
Under the new rules, entry to France from the UK is only allowed for EU residents, French nationals, or for people travelling for essential purpose, such as bereavement or childcare, and others. These rules will be applicable for all means of transport, air, car, ferry, and train, and also for those who have got vaccinated. Travellers who will be allowed to travel will have to take a PCR Covid test and will have to quarantine for seven days after reaching France.
Till last week, 3,424 cases of the Indian Covid variant were recorded in the UK, which is almost double the number recorded a week ago. With the new cases spreading so fast across England, medical experts are fearing a third wave in the UK.
France and most European countries are on the ‘amber list’ as per the UK government’s new traffic light system, which meant UK travellers visiting France had to quarantine upon arrival. Before the recent rule, France had allowed fully vaccinated travellers from the UK, besides those who got a negative Covid-19 test report from 9 June.
Also Read: Why are Aviation and Hospitality Bosses Furious Over Government’s Conflicting Comments?
We will put our lens through two FTSE travel and leisure stocks following the new rules:
Jet2 PLC (LON: JET2)
Founded in 1980, Jet2 Plc operates two leisure travel brands, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays. The company is continuously working on improving its liquidity over the period to respond swiftly as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted, and customers renew their travelling plans.
As per the company’s interim results ending 30 September 2020, the group reported operating loss of £111.2 million compared to operating profit of £361.5 million in 2019. The company holds the market capitalisation of £2896 million and has delivered 53% return in the last one year.
On 1 June 2021, the stock of the company was trading at GBX 1,371.50 as of 09:24 AM GMT +1, up by 1.59%.
EasyJet PLC (LON: EZJ)
A low-cost European point-to-point airline, EasyJet Plc is the largest operator for green list countries as per the UK’s traffic light system. The group in its half yearly result ended 31 March 2021, reported a 90% decrease in its total revenue to £240 million compared to £2,382 million in the H1 2020. For a like-on-like basis, the group’s passenger revenue decreased by a whopping 91% to £170 million and ancillary revenue decreased by 87% to £70 million. The company is focusing on its cost-out programme and aims to deliver saving of c.£500 million in FY’21.
The FTSE 250 constituent holds the market capitalisation of £4597 million and has delivered 48% return in the last one year.
On 1 June 2021, the stock of the company was trading at GBX 991.80 as of 09:42 AM GMT +1, down by 1.46%.
