Mad dash from the Balearics as tourists pay up to £1,000 to get back to the UK

Holidaymakers headed to Ibiza today despite the island joining the amber list overnight as tourists on the holiday island paid up to an extra £1,000 in a mad dash to get back from the Balearics to the UK.

Despite many facing a ten-day quarantine when they come back if they don’t have both jabs, scores jetted to the Mediterranean from Glasgow and other airports this morning.

British favourites Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca were all upgraded to the amber list amid surging infection numbers across the archipelago – which were visited by 3.8million Britons a year before the pandemic. 

Holidaymakers have since been paying inflated fees in a bid to avoid being subject to a ten-day quarantine upon their return if unvaccinated after the travel rules changed today, arriving at airports across the country 

Double-jabbed people and those under 18 will still be able to return from the islands quarantine free.   

Friends Poppy (left) and Shannon, both aged 20 and from Glasgow, head towards the departure gate at Glasgow Airport after checking in for their flight to Ibiza despite the the island going amber today

Holidaymakers check-in for the 7.15am Jet2 flight to Ibiza at Glasgow Airport as  Scotland moves to Level Zero.

Travellers at Palma Airport in Majorca (pictured) yesterday told The Times that they had paid hundreds and even thousands of pounds extra for flights and Covid antigen tests in order to return early from their holidays and beat the deadline

Tourists have been paying up to £1,000 to get from the Balearics to the UK before the islands go on the amber list overnight. Pictured: Passengers arriving at Manchester Airport from Ibiza on one of the last flights before the deadline

Tourists pictured returning to the UK from Ibiza before the 4am deadline after the Balearics were upgraded to the amber list

Travellers at Palma Airport in Majorca yesterday told The Times that they had paid hundreds and even thousands of pounds extra for flights and Covid antigen tests in order to return early from their holidays and beat the 4am deadline.

Those making a mad dash back included father and son Miller and Cameron Fitzgerald, from Leicestershire, who paid more than £1,000 to get back.

Miller told the publication: ‘Cameron has had his first jab but has his driving test booked so didn’t want to quarantine.

‘I paid £600 for the [covid] tests and £400 for the flights. I wasn’t too surprised that it changed because it’s been pretty chaotic. So we just had to be ready. There’s no doubt that what should have been a cheap holiday hasn’t been.’     

Holidaymakers have since been paying inflated fees in a bid to avoid being subject to a ten-day quarantine upon their return if unvaccinated. Pictured: Passengers arriving at Manchester Airport from Ibiza on one of the last flights before the deadline

Double-jabbed people and those under 18 will still be able to return from the islands quarantine free. Pictured: Tourists returning to the UK from Ibiza before the 4.00am deadline after the Balearics were upgraded to the amber list

Most of the UK tourists on the islands are young adults – many of whom have not yet been offered their second jab.

Thousands of others who have not yet left have been forced to cancel their holidays altogether. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps previously showed no sympathy for the thousands of Britons who could be affected by the sudden change to the travel list, telling them that uncertainty was a ‘fact of life’.

He said the reason the Balearics had been demoted to the amber list was because Covid case rates there had more than doubled.  

Earlier this week industry experts warned the decision over the Balearic Islands would cause ‘disarray’ for thousands of holidaymakers and be a blow to travel firms.

Virginia Messina, senior vice president for the World Tourism Trade Council, told MailOnline: ‘This will throw summer holidays into disarray for tens of thousands of people.

‘Businesses given the lifeline of holidays to the Balearics will also be left floundering as bookings collapse and customers clamour for refunds, piling on further financial pressure. There may be some good news with Croatia and Bulgaria moving up the scale and being added to the green list.

‘But the overall impact is one of confusion, which will only deter more Brits from holidaying abroad as the summer season slips away.’