Long-awaited quarantine-free trips to Madeira and the Algarve will get away this week, with several airlines and operators offering Portugal programmes.

It comes after the Portuguese government confirmed only on Friday (14 May), just days prior to the restart, that it would ease its restrictions on non-essential inbound travel.

The country’s tourism secretary and tourism authority had been insistent the country would be ready for the UK’s 17 May resumption, but a decision late last week to extend the country’s ongoing state of calamity gave cause for concern with plans laid for Monday.

The UK government lifted its ban on non-essential outbound travel during the early hours of Monday morning, allowing holiday travel to resume.

Portugal remains the standout destination for British holidaymakers on the UK government’s so-called "green list"; among the 12 destinations, only Portugal and Gibraltar could be considered to be immediately open and accessible to Brits.

Iceland still requires arrivals to quarantine on arrival, while deadly clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces over the past week have taken Israel off the tourism map for now.

Tui restarted package holiday operations to Europe on Monday morning, with TTG’s special projects editor Madeleine Barber joining the airline and operator’s first flight out of Gatwick heading for Funchal in Madeira.

https://twitter.com/MadeleineLilyB/status/1394163322338086912

Be sure to follow Maddie on Twitter for more insights over the coming days as we embark on a new era of travel.

Andrew Flintham, Tui UK managing director, said: "We’re delighted to welcome our customers back on board. There’s been an unbelievable amount of hard work behind the scenes to resume our operations and we’re just delighted that we navigated all the twists and turns to make sure everyone can go on the holidays they’ve been looking forward to and deserve.

"We’re proud that because we own every element of the holiday journey, we’re uniquely placed to respond to demand by adding additional flights and hotels to the most popular hotspots, and can help our customers every step of the way. Also, by introducing easy and affordable subsidised testing packages, at just £20 for green list destinations, we’ve made travelling overseas a reality for many of our customers.

"We’re looking forward to more of our most popular destinations joining the green list, so our customers can get on a well-deserved getaway this summer."

’Pleased to be back’

Both Tui and easyJet holiday will offer departures to amber list destinations, which will require holidaymakers to quarantine upon their return to the UK, despite the government advising against leisure travel to amber and red list destinations.

British Airways’ first of 70 departures on Monday (17 May) was its 7.10am flight to Gibraltar – one of six green list services on Monday, along with three flights to Faro, one to Lisbon and one to Funchal.

Sean Doyle, BA chair and chief executive, said: "Today, the first day of a return to international travel, is a special day for many people, because for so long now families have been separated, business has suffered, and we know that our customers haven’t been able to take the breaks abroad that they’ve wanted.

"After more than a year of limited flying, we’re pleased to be back in the skies – albeit with a very small number of flights."