TUI and Transavia to the Canary Islands: ‘Travel to a yellow area is allowed’

TUI and Transavia want to keep flying to the Canary Islands. The airlines are going by code yellow and not by the government's appeal. “Travel to a yellow area is allowed.”

Spokespeople point to the official travel advice

The news organisation NOS spoke to spokespeople for both airlines. TUI and Transavia both point to the official travel advice.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs applies code yellow to the Canary Islands.

“Areas that are green or yellow can be travelled to. The government itself issues those advisories and we follow the official travel advice”, says TUI's spokesperson.

“Travel to a yellow area is allowed and we are leaving those flights in place for now”, says Transavia's spokesperson.

The government advises against travel abroad

The government is not keen on travel abroad at this stage of the corona crisis. Which is why prime minister Mark Rutte made an appeal: “Do not travel abroad before mid-January.”

Sharply more bookings for Curaçao

Strikingly, the appeal did not apply to Curaçao, as that supposedly counts as ‘domestic’. Because of that exception, the news agency ANP reports sharply more bookings for Curaçao.

A Corendon spokesperson confirms that picture to the NOS. “We really are seeing a rise; it is hundreds of extra bookings.”

Bonaire open too

While the government advises against travel abroad, Bonaire is now open as well. On Wednesday the island was freed from code orange. Remarkable timing, a day after Rutte's press conference.

Like Curaçao, Bonaire falls outside the restrictive appeal, being part of the Caribbean Netherlands, and within code yellow. Which makes these the only destinations in the world that meet both advisories.

Canary Islands

Where the Canary Islands are concerned, then, the advice is less in step.

In short, ‘do not travel’ is the government's advice for the Canary Islands. At the same time the ministry's code yellow applies. And the airlines follow that advice.