Millions of UK holidaymakers could be blocked from EU because of vaccination type

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Up to five million Britons face being locked out of European holidays because their vaccines for Covid are not recognised by the EU's passport scheme, according to a report by the Daily Telegraph Friday.

The move could dampen the recovery in jet fuel demand over the remainder of the summer.  

Refining margins for summertime jet prices in north Europe already started to slide mid-June amid a long middle distillate market, with July and August cracks for north cargo prices arriving into Rotterdam both dropping around $1.35/b as crude rallied, Quantum data shows. 

European flight numbers over 41 countries, ranging from Iceland to Morocco, Turkey and the Ukraine, jumped to 519,300 in June, up 138,000 from May, but were still around 50% below 2019 levels, data from Eurocontrol shows.

Germany was the busiest country with around 82,500 flights, followed by Spain with 78,500 flights, and just above France which saw 76,800 flight, while the UK was only firth with 58,000 flights, and below Italy which saw 60,000 flights.

Millions of vaccines administered in the UK do not qualify for the European Union's vaccine passport scheme, because the shots were manufactured in India and are not yet authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The EU Digital Covid Certificate, which launched on Thursday, is designed to allow Covid-secure travel across the continent, but does not recognise a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine called Covishield, produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), because it is yet to receive approval in Europe.

The EU ruling has also impacted Asia and Africa, where the Indian manufactured shot has been widely used. 

Ryanair's passenger numbers surged in June, reflecting the demand for cheap short haul flights for holiday destinations amid the rollout of Covid-19 vaccination programmes across Europe.

The no-frills airline carried 5.3 million passengers on 38,000 flights last month, up from 1.8 million in May and 1 million in April.

European flight numbers over 41 countries, ranging from Iceland to Morocco, Turkey and the Ukraine, rose to 519,300 in June, up 138,000 from May, although still around 50% below 2019 levels, data from Eurocontrol shows.

The green shoots of recovery were also evident in traffic figures issued by budget carrier Wizz Air, which carried 1.55 million passengers last month.

Ryanair, was the busiest airline operator, with about 1,000 additional flights per day since start of June.

Five low-cost airlines were in the top 10 of most active European airlines.