Britons face Covid testing hurdles for Spain holidays

Here's a re-cap of the main headlines:

• EasyJet swings to £1.3bn loss

• Disney World Florida ups visitor capacity to 35pc ​

• United Airlines begins transatlantic Covid-19 testing trial ​

• Eleven areas of Scotland to move to Tier 4 restrictions, Nicola Sturgeon says

• Britons to face testing woes over Christmas holidays

​Catch-up with the rest below, and join us again tomorrow.

Residents of the Sicilian village of Gesso were particularly excited that Dr Jill Jacobs Biden, a descendant of an immigrant from the village, is almost certain to become the first Italian-American US first lady.

Antonio Federico, a local amateur historian, says Dr Biden’s Italian great-grandfather was from the village and emigrated to the United States in 1900, where he changed his family’s surname to the more American-sounding “Jacobs”.

The hope is that the village could attract tourism through its connection with the next Flotus.

Norway's rest stops are far superior to any you'll find in Britain, writes Annabel Fenwick Elliott.

Fun fact: Norway is (probably) home to the nicest public lavatories in the world.

And when better to admire them than in the run-up to World Toilet Day, which falls on November 19 and has been designated as such by the UN to spread public awareness on sanitation. 

Indeed, among Norway's majestic fjords, waterfalls and glaciers, you'll find a plethora of cutting-edge rest stops; far superior, it has to be said, than any you'll find in Britain.

See the list in full.

The Telegraph's Unlock Long Haul campaign aims to open up the world to British travellers after lockdown. Africa and Latin America, in particular, have dozens of countries deserving of a travel corridor that have yet to be granted one. 

Laura Burdett-Munns, managing director, Africa Exclusive, is the latest to lend backing to the campaign. She says:

Safari tourism funds anti-poaching and wildlife conservation in Africa.  Travel bans are great for poachers and deadly for communities reliant on tourism. Africa’s Covid cases are far lower than ours, making travel bans and quarantine disproportionate and even ridiculous.

Processing cancellations, postponements and providing advice means tour operators can’t furlough many staff.  Yet income has dried up and losses will devastate the travel industry.

As well as suffering catastrophic losses due to Government travel bans, owners of travel companies will now be required to inject enormous sums of money to satisfy the same Government's ATOL requirements. Some of our best specialist travel companies simply won’t be able to do that.
There are around 150 UK tour operators arranging trips to Africa, the UK is a huge market for safari tourism and our 14 day quarantine is having devastating consequences for both communities and wildlife.

Despite the October announcement of a Global Travel Taskforce set up to work 'at pace with industry' we have heard nothing of note and remain paralysed by the poor response from the UK government, who appear to have no concept of the impact of COVID on the industry. The government must put resources into developing an effective and proportionate response based on individual country's Covid statistics. In place of quarantine, testing people on arrival at airports in the UK will be the key to opening up long haul travel.

Among the few sparks of joy to glimmer during this annus horribilis has been a nationwide rekindling of love for our great outdoors, writes Paul Bloomfield.

He selects a clutch of British treasures for consideration, from Cheshire’s Sandstone Ridge, a series of scarps and sandstone outcrops rich in prehistoric sites, heathland and woods, to the gorges of the Mendip Hills AONB, Cheddar and less-visited Ebbor.

See his picks in full.

The Swiss ski resort of Zermatt was forced to enlist the help of local police to control crowds of skiers at the weekend.

On Saturday photographs emerged of large crowds of people gathering to board the resort’s main gondola, without any respect to social distancing rules – sparking outrage on social media.

“The pictures in question were taken early Saturday morning, before the cabins opened,” said Markus Hasler, CEO of the Zermatt lift company, who assured local reporters that within 15 minutes the crowd had dispersed and all customers were wearing masks.

To ensure the resort’s new rules on social distancing weren’t violated again on Sunday bosses brought in the police.

The first cruise line to sail in the Caribbean since March has scrapped the rest of its 2020 voyages following an outbreak of coronavirus, reports Benjamin Parker.

SeaDream Yacht Club, the company behind cruising’s return to the region, said they would use the time to “evaluate” whether it will be possible to operate with “a high degree of certainty of not getting Covid”.

Seven passengers tested positive for Covid-19 – with one flown to the US on a medical evacuation flight – as well as two crew members. Britons were among the nationalities on board.

The week-long cruise, carrying 53 passengers on SeaDream I, departed Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday, November 7, for a week of sailing around the West Indies.

Read the full story.

Rio de Janeiro plans to hold its carnival in July 2021, the city's samba schools said Tuesday, after the coronavirus pandemic forced them to postpone it from February.

However, this new date would depend on both the availability of a vaccine against Covid-19 and the Brazilian government accepting a proposal to declare a national holiday in July, said the group that organizes the annual carnival parade, the Independent League of Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro (LIESA).

"The samba schools decided that if there's a vaccine and if there's a holiday, the parade will be in July," said LIESA spokesman Vicente Dattoli.

"They held a meeting yesterday and, with everyone feeling more optimistic given the recent news of highly effective test vaccines, they felt that it was now possible to set a date" of July 11 and 12, he told AFP.

However, he added, "without a vaccine, forget the rest." Carnival is typically held in February or March, just before the Christian observance of Lent.

Rwanda has recorded just 5,362 cases of Covid-19 and 42 deaths to date, and international flights to the capital, Kigali, resumed on August 1. But freelance guide/driver Arthur Bahizi Biraro, aged 51, is still waiting for work. 

He shared his story with Sue Watt.

Finland has halted a rise in new infections at Europe's lowest level, helped by the fact that for Finns social distancing comes naturally, Reuters reports.

While a remote Nordic location and one of Europe's lowest population densities play in its favour in the fight against Covid-19, it helps that many Finns like personal space and solitude.

In a Eurobarometer poll, 73 per cent of Finnish respondents said the first wave's confinement measures had been very or fairly easy to cope with, including 23 per cent considering them "even an improvement" to their daily life.

Many Finns have enjoyed spending more time in nature or having saunas at their lakeside summer cottages.

"We like to be in solitude wandering the forests and swimming in the lakes, so many Finns have actually enjoyed that they have been able to move away from the cities," Kristian Wahlbeck, director of the Finnish Association for Mental Health (MIELI), said.

In an exclusive extract from his book, John G Sayers recalls the golden age of transatlantic travel. 

During the 1930s, factories were closed around the globe, many people were unemployed, public confidence was eroded, and every government was looking for sparks to boost public morale.

There were indeed some signs of hope: in the UK, middle-class salaries were growing due to expansion of “second-wave” light industries and thus enabling more disposable income, since the cost of living did not rise in relative terms. The modern design styles showcased at the 1925 Paris Exposition were becoming the rage as Art Deco, and in Europe national design and pride were embodied in a new range of stylish ocean liners.

For the very rich, everything was cheap, and everyone competed for the business of this demanding elite – including the shipping companies. This was very much a European phenomenon.

The European powers had a strong tradition of passenger ships. While Germany was focusing much of its shipbuilding plans and efforts on naval vessels such as the Bismarck, Britain and France looked to the stimulus of passenger-ship construction with dramatic 80,000-ton behemoths to foster employment in their shipyards. The bigger the ship, the more jobs she created.

Read the extract in full.

Nicola Sturgeon says the level system in Scotland is still allowing the country to avoid a one-size-fits-all lockdown, as is in place in England.

But she says this can only continue if people do not spread the virus from high-prevalence areas to low-prevalence areas. She says that the guidance on non-essential travel has only been advisory but will become law from Friday.

She says people in level 3 or level 4 areas will not be allowed to go outside those areas unless it is essential. People from other parts of Scotland will not be able to go to level 3 or 4 areas unless it is essential.

And people in Scotland will not be allowed to travel to other parts of the UK unless it is essential. She claims these rules are similar to those in force in England and Wales.

If you grew up in the countryside, or indeed ever went for a stroll near a small river, you may well have indulged in a gentle game of Pooh sticks.

The pastime that won fans through AA Milne's books was invented near the author's house in East Sussex. The exact bridge that inspired the sport was never identified by Milne, but one near his house attracts thousands of people to race sticks each year. 

It was rendered out of action yesterday when it was damaged by a tree that fell down in strong winds.

A growing list of countries, including Spain and a number of Caribbean islands, will require visitors to show evidence of a negative PCR test result to be permitted entry. The Covid test must usually be taken within a limited time frame before their arrival.

Those planning to travel abroad over the Christmas period may face delays, tour operator The Ultimate Travel Company has found.

Anyone hoping to depart the UK on December 26 or 27 will have particular difficulty as most private clinics will be closed on December 25 and 26 (NHS tests are not permitted for travel purposes).

Nick Van Gruisen, managing director of The Ultimate Travel Company, added: "In theory if you need test within 72 hours no one can travel on 28th or 29th and only on the 30th if you can find a 24 hour service and willing to pay for it."

• The 22 countries you can (feasibly) visit once lockdown is over

Nicola Sturgeon has announced that 11 council areas, including Glasgow, will go into her highest tier of restrictions from Friday, the equivalent of almost full lockdown apart from schools staying open.

She told the Scottish Parliament: "The council areas that will move to level 4 for a limited period from Friday are: the City of Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Stirling and West Lothian.

"In the seven days up to Friday, Scotland as a whole had just over 140 new cases of Covid per 100,000 people.

"All of the areas moving to level 4 were above that level - ranging from West Lothian ,with a rate of 158 cases per 100,000, to Glasgow with 277," she said.

Follow the coronavirus live blog.

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have announced the launch of four new routes for summer 2021.

The new flights and holidays will be to Kefalonia, Santorini and Skiathos from Newcastle Airport for next summer, in addition to flights and holidays to Skiathos from East Midlands Airport.

The announcement comes in response to strong demand for holidays to Greece next summer. The new routes announced today are as follows:

Newcastle Airport

• Kefalonia – weekly Friday services operating from July 23- October 8.
• Skiathos – weekly Friday services operating from May 21- October 8.
• Santorini – weekly Monday services operating from July 26-November 1.

East Midlands Airport

• Skiathos – weekly Sunday services operating from May 23- October 10.

Whispers of an extension to England's lockdown may have put a dampener on some people's December travel plans. But, overall there's still strong demand to travel as soon as we can, according to Abta.

A spokesperson said:

When the Canary Islands and Maldives were added to the travel corridor lists, travel companies saw a spike in bookings as people tried to secure a spot of winter sun, a similar surge in bookings for next year was seen following the Prime Minister’s update about a vaccine [...]

To get people travelling again the Government needs to have an effective testing regime ready to go after lockdown. We welcomed the move from a blanket Foreign Office travel advisory back to individual country advice, which should set the framework for moving to a fully regionalised approach to travel advice, giving travellers the information they need so they can make their own decisions about travel, based on a transparent set of criteria to assess the risk.

Following recent steps in the US to reintroduce ocean-going cruising using a phased approach, we also urge the UK Government to review the blanket advisory against cruise, continuing to work with the industry towards revising their advice on cruise travel.

There's no doubting the universal appeal of a good map, writes Oliver Smith.

When Ian Wright launched the Brilliant Maps Twitter account and website back in 2014, to share his favourite cartographic finds, he had little inkling that it would prove such a hit. Six years later, with more than 100,000 social followers and millions of annual visitors, he is left in little doubt about the universal appeal of a good map.  

Dozens of the 350 he has unearthed and written about have been collated in a book, Brilliant Maps: An Atlas for Curious Minds. Here are a few of his favourites.

Read more here.

Thwarted travel is these days a trending topic of conversation, writes Laura Fowler.

At a Rule of Six dinner just before lockdown, my father listed all the holidays he and my mum haven’t been on this year. First there was Jersey in March, cancelled because Jet2 stopped flying there. Then they booked Madeira – cancelled because the tour operator went bust. Ditto Santorini – you can see where this is going.

I’ll cut to the chase: seven holidays booked this year – all cancelled, cancelled, cancelled. Seven! As he talked, I tried to concentrate and make sympathetic noises in the appropriate places, but it was hard because what I was really thinking was MAYBE JUST STOP BOOKING HOLIDAYS! Of course they keep getting cancelled – there’s a pandemic on!

Read more here.

Shopping centres and hotels in Israel's popular winter tourist resorts of Eilat and the southern Dead Sea are reopening, as the country ends its second nationwide lockdown. So long as they are armed with anegative Covid test, visitors will be able to travel to these newly opened areas, in a positive sign for Israel's tourism industry.

There is some backlash at this easing, however, with some unnamed health officials being quoted in the Israeli media saying no further restrictions should be lifted until case numbers stop rising. Israel's R rate is currently 1.08, according to the Health Ministry.

There is also pressure on the Hamas authorities in the neighbouring Gaza Strip to consider another lockdown. The number of new Covid cases registered there on November 15 was 490, the highest yet for a single day. Medics are concerned that the fragile healthcare system in Gaza, which is kept under blockade by Israel and Egypt, could collapse under the weight of new cases.  

A large luxury vessel and plenty of on-board PPE have helped owners avoid the choppy waters of 2020, writes Caroline Siona White.

The French national lockdown is likely to extended beyond the original end date of December 2.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday that he wouldn't be able to provide an end date for the national restrictions, which were imposed for a month on October 30.

Mr Veran said that restrictions on movement could not be lifted on December 1, fitting with the outlook of the Prime Minister Jean Castex who said last week that bars, cafes and gyms were to remain closed past the deadline. This puts plans on hold for people who were due to head to France post-lockdown. France remains on the UK's quarantine list.

Talks of a lockdown extension, or "strengthened tiers", have cast a shadow over our Christmas holiday plans.

So will you be able to travel after December 2? Greg Dickinson offers a run-down of how things could play out in the coming weeks.

Kazakhstan, the Gullah Islands in the US and Medellín, Colombia are some of the less obvious places recommended on Lonely Planet's 2021 best in travel list. 

The annual round-up of the best travel experiences, as determined by Lonely Planet, includes awards such as Best Revitalisation (which was the accolade for Medellín), Best Multi-generational Destination and Best Inclusive Tours. They fall into three categories: sustainability, community and diversity. Here's a sample of the winners that might whet your appetite for travel next year. 

Best Accommodation

Kazakhstan: Rural villagers are trained in hospitality to provide homestays while acquiring fresh economic opportunities for the local community.

Best Trekking

Tesfa Tours, Ethiopia: Locals lead perspective-altering treks through the extraordinary landscapes and homestays

Best Immersion

Faroe Islands: The close-knit community provides personable, home-hospitality tourism and invites voluntourists to help preserve the natural landscape.

Best Under-Explored History

Gullah Islands, USA: The isolation of the islands allowed the Gullah and Geechee people to foster the most comprehensive African cultural heritage in the USA.

See the full list.

The German airline will stop offering free snacks to economy class passengers from Spring 2021.

The airline and its subsidiaries, Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines, are cutting their schedules, fleet and staff, with air travel not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels before 2025.

“Our current snack offer in economy class does not always meet the expectations of our guests,” Christina Foerster, executive board member, said in a statement.

Instead, Lufthansa and its subsidiaries will introduce a new range of food and drinks for sale on short and medium-haul flights, with Austrian airlines starting the new offer, followed by Swiss and Lufthansa.

There is still huge demand for cruises from people who realise that without some risk, there is no life, writes Jane Archer.

I usually switch off whenever the government’s official harbinger of doom comes on the radio but something Matt Hancock said on Radio 4’s Today show yesterday stayed my hand as it was rather apposite given the Covid outbreak on SeaDream I in the Caribbean last week.

The gist of it from Hancock was that if he can be sure the right rules and protocols are in place – meaning an efficient testing system – he hopes to allow visits to care homes by Christmas.

Why did this resonate? Because if the Government thinks testing is the key for opening care homes to relatives, the cruise lines’ use of testing must also be accepted as the key for allowing cruise holidays (indeed all travel) to restart. Especially as care homes are full of vulnerable people, but – despite hackneyed jokes about the well bred and nearly dead – cruise ships are not.

That is especially true of SeaDream, the first cruise line to restart sailing in the Caribbean, as you have to be pretty active just to get down the ladder into the inflatable boats they use to take passengers ashore.  Its cruise started from Barbados on Saturday, November 7. By the following Wednesday, it was over. A passenger had tested positive for Covid, the rest were quarantined in their cabins and their ship, SeaDream I, with just 53 passengers on board (half as many as she can carry to allow for physical distancing) headed back to port. Another six passengers, most of them friends in one group, and a crew member subsequently tested positive. It was not the outcome anyone wanted but was done by the book.

Read the full story.

US low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has banned a TikTok user from its flights after he posted an online guide to getting past its rules on cabin luggage. 

The airline charges passengers for bringing a bag on board that is big enough to fit in an overhead bin, alongside other fees for things that would often come as standard among other airlines (such as checking in at the airport). 

The way that some of these fees is enforced is relatively simple. If you haven’t paid for a carry on bag, your boarding pass says the number you can bring on board is ‘0’. If you have paid for one, it says ‘1’.

A social media user with the handle @RobKAllday posted a video to the platform TikTok showing himself editing a screen shot of his boarding pass to show he was eligible to bring a carry on bag onto his Spirit Airlines flight. He says he “[d]idn’t actually do this” of course and that his bag ‘fits’ without paying extra to bring it on.

The video’s creator posted a follow-up to TikTok with a letter from Spirit banning him from the airline but offering that they will consider a letter of contrition in two years if he wishes to have the ban lifted. It was reported that it was a sports journalist who uses the same handle, but that's since been corrected.

A reader who would like to remain anonymous has been in touch after he decided to flee the second lockdown with a last-ditch flight to Mexico. Sounds like it was a fine idea. He shared his experience, below:

Once the UK government announced its second lockdown – amid slowing infection rates and clear evidence of the various devastating consequences of a nationwide mandate – I knew it was time to get out. My girlfriend had flown to the US a month prior to see her family for the first time in a year, and given international travel would be ‘banned’ for an unclear amount of time I was averse to staying alone at home.

I came to Mexico – Tulum to be precise – as US rules mean I can visit so long as I spend 14 days outside Britain first. What struck me straight away was how alive the place is. Human beings dancing, hugging, eating, laughing, and all while taking individual responsibility to stay safe: people wear their masks in stores and cabs, but there’s no shaming or fear-mongering to make them do so. It turns out most of us are sensible and don’t require crushing punishment and propaganda to do the right thing, and Mexico is seeing a steady 6,000 cases a day: hardly the terrifying disaster it’s made out to be.

The second thing that I noticed was how many international travellers are here, mainly from the US. They’ve been coming either to escape election madness or potential future lockdowns in places like New York or LA. These people can work from home for the foreseeable future, and with similar time zones as the US, many folks I spoke to have bought one-way tickets.

There’s a steady stream of tourists every day and there’s not a single hotel in the area that has availability for the next few weeks. Instead, travellers tend to book apartments on month-long rolling leases, and begin their new life.

To compare this to London is disheartening. I have furloughed friends sitting around waiting for someone to hand them another chance, or hospitality owners shutting down their businesses, while here people are making the most of a bad situation: creating new work for themselves, thriving on the tourism and enjoying life with all the inherent risks that have and forever will come with it.

Many EU governments oppose common rules on the use of rapid Covid-19 tests, an internal document seen by Reuters says, in a new blow to airlines which are betting on fast-track testing to help bring the travel industry back to life.

Airlines are pressing governments for alternatives to blanket curbs on movement amid a second wave of Covid-19 sweeping Europe, with Lufthansa and Alitalia spearheading the use of rapid antigen tests.

But many EU governments are not ready for common procedures on the tests which would help ease travel across Europe, according to the document prepared by the German government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"A large number of member states made clear that discussions on common minimum standards and criteria were premature," the paper, dated November 12, says.

The document will be on the table when EU leaders discuss coordination in fighting the pandemic in a video conference on Thursday. Rapid antigen kits are less accurate than standard PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, but can offer results in a few minutes, as opposed to days. European airlines are using them on passengers before departure, allowing only those who test negative to travel. But the testing is largely limited to domestic flights, partly because of European countries' reluctance to apply consistent rules.

Some governments seek more scientific evidence behind rapid testing, the German document says. Many say testing is a national issue for which there is no need for a common approach, the document says without naming any state.

Graham Brady, MP, calls for an early end to quarantine which he says has done 'untold' damage to the economy and is based on flawed science. He writes: 

The pandemic has led many on the Government benches into unfamiliar territory. The Conservative party is not used to telling people when they can or cannot leave their homes. Although I agree it was sensible last March to enter a short ’lockdown’ to get an unchecked virus under control, it’s not clear that it is the correct policy response today.

We now find ourselves in the absurd situation where the current lockdown restrictions mean that government ministers are telling consenting adults whom they are allowed to spend the night with. Conservatives are united in their long held view that governments should, as much as possible, avoid telling people what they can and cannot do. The reason for this is not just philosophical belief in personal freedom, but also practical. Rules only work if there is a will to comply: they don’t work if they are unreasonable - people refuse to follow them.

New research suggests the UK Government’s 14-day quarantine policy for international arrivals, which involves no test, is far less effective than previously considered when compliance with the rules is taken into account. It concludes that an on-arrival passenger testing regime would be twice as effective as 14 day quarantine.

If employing a ‘test and release’ regime, then a test three days after arrival is found to be the most effective of the range of options considered, which included ‘test and release’ on five or seven days. At first sight that might seem counterintuitive. The reason for this is quite simply down to human behaviour.

Read the full piece.

There may be talk today of a possible extension to the lockdown in England, but luxury tour operator Scott Dunn recorded its busiest bookings day for three months on Monday. 

Sonia Davies, chief executive of Scott Dunn, said: "Maldives, Caribbean, UAE, Kenya and the Seychelles are all the best performing extremely well right now but there is a lot of interest in South Africa as well as the rest of Africa.

"The trips are predominantly families with older children (12 plus) for the festive season but there is also a lot of interest in next Summer and festive season 2021 / 22."

United Airlines passengers arriving on a flight from Newark Liberty Airport in the US to London Heathrow today were the first to experience the airline's free transatlantic Covid-19 testing pilot programme.

The airline provided rapid tests to every passenger over two years old and all crew members on board, free of charge, meaning everyone over two on the flight tested negative prior to departure.   

"These flights are a good proof-of-concept for governments around the world that are considering making testing part of the travel experience," said Toby Enqvist, chief customer officer for United. 

The rapid Covid-19 test was offered onsite at Newark, at a testing facility located at the Newark United Club. It will continue to be used with passengers travelling on United Flight 14, departing at 7:15pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the next four weeks.

Customers booking these flights will have the option to confirm their willingness to participate in the trial or choose another flight. All customers are still subject to current UK entry requirements, including the 14-day quarantine.

CNN's Richard Quest was among those on the flight.

Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in South America, was having a tourism mini-boom till Covid-19 struck. Local guides spoke to Chris Moss about the devastating impact of the pandemic.

Mariela Zuleta, 44, from La Paz, Bolivia, said:

I’ve worked as a freelance tour guide since 2008. I lived in Bermuda, where I worked in the hospitality industry from 2009 to 2015. I set up my own company in 2017.

Here in Bolivia, I’m a cultural tour guide, doing most of my work around Lake Titicaca, the Uyuni salt flat, Potosí, Sucre and Tiwanaku. I’ve also guided in Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Santiago de Chile and Easter Island.

When I worked for Crillon, a major tourism agency in La Paz, I worked as a guide for Abercrombie & Kent, Audley, Kuoni and Journey Latin America from the UK; since I started flying solo, my most important European customers are Cultours from Denmark and Latin Reiser from Norway. 

I was doing lovely before the Covid-19 crisis, so I’m one of the lucky ones that had enough savings to get by this year.  I haven’t had any income at all since March. As my company is just me, I’ve been able to pay bills and keep up tax commitments without having to close down, which is not the case for most of my colleagues in the sector.

Read the full story.

Easyjet saw bookings rise by close to 50 per cent on November 9, the day when positive news about Pfizer's vaccine was announced

“We know that down the line people want to travel. Just by the news of the vaccine, you know, last Monday bookings were up close to 50 per cent,” EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday.

He also mentioned a surge following the pre-lockdown announcement that the Canary Islands would be added to the travel green list.   

"When quarantine removed from the [quarantine list] Canaries bookings went up 900 per cent," Mr Lungren said.

Lockdown could carry on beyond December 2, Matt Hancock has admitted, saying it was "too early to know" whether the current restrictions have been effective, reports Gordon Rayner.

Even if the nationwide measures end on the scheduled date, a senior health chief warned that a "strengthened" tier system would be needed to replace it because the lowest tier had "very little effect".

It raises the prospect of the traditional family Christmas being effectively cancelled for millions of people as hospital admissions and the average number of daily deaths continue to climb.

On Monday night, Tory MPs demanded a "clear route out of lockdown" during a virtual meeting with the Prime Minister, and Mr Johnson has been warned that he will face a revolt from dozens of backbenchers if he tries to extend it.

Read the full story.

• Can I still go on holiday? The new travel rules during lockdown

The budget airline has announced that it will expand its UK network in December and early January, meeting demand for travel during the festive season.

New flights are aimed to serve university students heading home for the Christmas holidays with the new services starting on December 4, just after England is due to end its current lockdown. The Government will run a  “student travel window” from December 3-9, which will allow university students to travel home on staggered departure dates.

Ryanair's new domestic routes will include a service between London Stansted and Edinburgh. The airline will launch the following routes :

• London Stansted to Edinburgh — two weekly flights
• Derry to Liverpool — four weekly flights
• Belfast to London Stansted — two weekly flights
• Edinburgh to Derry — three weekly flights

“As part of our commitment to get students home for Christmas, we are pleased to announce a new Edinburgh-Stansted route operating twice weekly between 4 December 2020 and 8 January 2021,” the airline said in a statement.

As part of the launch, Ryanair will run a sale for tickets on these routes. Beginning November 16, it is selling seats from £20 one-way on the new domestic services for travel between December 4, 2020 and January 8, 2021.

The Florida theme park has increased guest capacity to 35 per cent, Disney chief executive Bob Chapek has revealed, pointing to consumer demand and an improved understanding of best operating practices amid Covid-19.

During a recent earnings call, Mr Chapek confirmed that Disney World has bumped up daily capacity from 25 per cent to 35 per cent.

In October, Disney announced it was cutting 28,000 jobs across its US theme parks as the Covid crisis continues to ravage the travel business.

US states and cities were imposing a raft of new restrictions to try to curb soaring Covid-19 infection rates.

One of them is California, which last week passed 1 million cases, and where officials have announced that that much of the state will move back into more restrictive reopening tiers.

From Tuesday, about 94 per cent of California's 39.5 million residents will live under the state's strictest purple category. Many businesses will be forced to close again.

San Francisco stopped indoor dining and reduced capacity at fitness centres and movie theatres from Saturday following a 250 per cent spike in cases since early October.Schools in the state can only operate at 25 percent capacity, and only students considered a priority may attend class in person.

“We are now moving backward, not forward,” Governor Gavin Newsom acknowledged.

Some 100,000 people have signed up to take part in trial cruises organised by Royal Caribbean on Facebook, four days after the company launched the initiative, announced the company's president and chief executive Michael Bayley.

“Part of the process for any cruise line to receive approval to restart cruises from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is to conduct a series of test sailings that have volunteer passengers onboard,” said a spokesperson for the cruise line.

“We are still reviewing the CDC framework and do not have details on our simulated sailings [...] While we review the requirements proposed by the CDC and consider when we can host our simulated trial sailings, we are gathering information from those who have shown interest on our Facebook group and will be in touch with them when we have more details," they added.

"Our priority is to ensure that we can exercise our comprehensive set of measures in a safe and healthy manner while making sure we provide a memorable vacation experience.”

EasyJet swung to mammoth annual loss and said it would fly no more than a fifth of its usual schedule in the last three months 2020, reports Simon Foy.

The airline posted a £1.27bn loss compared to a £430m profit for the same period last year – its first ever full-year loss in its 25-year history – while revenues collapsed by more than half to £3bn. 

The low-cost carrier cut its flight schedule again, saying it expects to fly no more than 20pc of planned capacity for the first quarter of its financial year due to ongoing travel restrictions.

In September, easyJet said it would fly "slightly less" than the 40pc capacity it expected in the final three months of the year.

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The main headlines from Monday:

• Airlines put pressure on ministers to scrap quarantine after lockdown
• Scottish Rail introduces alcohol ban
• Mass tourism will be back by summer says Expedia CEO 
• Germany projected to tighten pre-Christmas Covid restrictions
• Australia back on outbreak alert as state virus infections spike
• Sweden brings in tougher restrictions 

Now onto today's news.