So that little sub-fleet of 3 x 4-class (2 stored) might still have some work to do then! G-VIIY moving around at CWL yesterday.

Is it time to revive this thread and maybe change title to BA's reactions to today's announcement?

I can't help feeling that there's going to be a point soon where our own rules are largely irrelevant. Can't see many countries wanting to stay open to us given how many cases we're starting to get here / potential for variants.

I'd originally been crossing everything for the USA to open to us by mid August, but that's looking exceedingly unlikely now.

By mid-August we will be on the downslope from our Delta-peak, whilst Europe and the US will likely be in the midst of theirs!

However their low level testing will make better reading than ours..

They’ll react to the announcement cautiously. Polls this week show that 75% of the uk won’t be taking a summer holiday this year.

we are quite a special group here, desperate to jump on jets, so hopefully we can keep them going, until the winter lockdowns at least.

Not really sure that's going to make them any more likely to open to other countries though, I mean... we're still insisting on our (largely pointless) rules even though right now we're in the top 10 for cases per 100k worldwide and 90%+ Delta variant.

It is pointless keeping out the Delta variant when it is dominant, so I can't see that having an impact. The problem is more if a new variant is discovered in the UK and then we go through the whole "does the vaccine still work"? cycle all over again. From that perspective I am not too convinced case numbers will make much of a difference, at least for those passengers that have been double vaccinated. We're getting to the stage now where uptake is mitigating many of the risks faced.

Of course we've had about a hundred false dawns already, so we may as well ask the Magic 8 ball.

I've flights to Paris on the 9th of August. Hotel can be cancelled by the 26th without penalty, or with deposit forfeited if after that day. The testing situation is not ideal, but the announcement made it a bit better. Will make a call in two weeks on it I think.

Thing is, there's no point having expectations. Things when they change tend to do so rapidly and so planning is just about out the window.

If there is something I can see affecting us, it is our failure to grant non-UK residents the same privileges for fully-vaccinated Amber arrivals. It is illogical and I don't understand why we are delaying this.