A consortium of British airlines and airports groups on Tuesday lost a court case that was aimed to force the government of United Kingdom to explain how it draws up its coronavirus rules on international travel.
"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 executives of the five companies involved in the case had said in an earlier statement.
The case was filed in the month of June by the Manchester Airports Group, which manages Manchester and London's Stansted airport; the International Consolidated Airlines Group SA that owns British Airways; airlines Ryanair, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic along with tour operator TUI.
They wanted to force the British government to explain how it establishes the "green", "orange" and "red" lists of countries, which classify their Covid-19 status and govern international travel rules from the UK.
Britain had earlier said that fully-vaccinated British residents returning from medium-risk countries will no longer have to quarantine on arrival home from July 19, opening up travel for the 65% of adults who have had two jabs and those aged under 18.
But travel companies say it is still not clear how the government makes decisions about rating destinations under its traffic light system where low risk is green, medium risk is amber and high risk is red.
The High Court in London seems to have kept the same view of the UK Government and ruled that forcing the government to explain these choices "would impose an unreasonable burden" and "risk slowing the decision-making process."
The Aviation groups behind the complaint issued a joint statement standing behind their case.
"The way decisions have been taken to date has not been transparent and has created huge confusion and uncertainty for the British public," they said.
"The most recent changes including to the status of travellers from France...were shambolic and made it even harder for consumers and businesses to plan," they added.
The industry leaders and stake holders are pushing for the US and countries in the EU to be added to the green list, which allows travellers in those locations to return to Britain without quarantine.
"The UK has already fallen behind the EU's reopening and our overly cautious approach to international travel will further impact our economic recovery," they warned, even though cases are currently surging in Britain.
LCC - EasyJet, that released its April-June business report on Tuesday, said that constant changes in guidelines is killing the air travel and that is the reason travellers booking at last moment.
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