British Airways will offer more than 90,000 extra seats to Greece, Spain and Turkey this summer, with new services available from mid-June.
The move comes in anticipation of the UK government broadening its initial "green list" to include more traditional holiday destinations.
Revealed on Friday (7 May), the list currently features just four viable destinations – Portugal, Israel, Iceland and Gibraltar. It will be reviewed every three weeks.
However, The Telegraph on Tuesday (11 May) reported Spain and Greece were unlikely to make the next version of the list, potentially putting them off limits until early July.
Turkey, meanwhile, was on Friday added to the government’s "red list", suggesting it is very unlikely the Covid situation there will improve sufficiently for the destination to make the green list in the near future.
BA has added 26 additional weekly frequencies to 13 destinations, including 10 in Greece, two in the Canary Islands and one in Turkey.
These include Corfu, Kos, Paphos, Rhodes, Lanzarote, Tenerife and Bodrum. Despite neither Greece or Spain making the green list, the Foreign Office has softened its advice on travel to five Greek islands and the Canary Islands, raising hopes of an island-by-island or regional approach to travel restrictions this summer.
BA’s new flights to Greece and the Canary Island are available to book now for travel between 21 June and 5 September; Bodrum flights are available to book for travel from 18 July.
Neil Chernoff, BA’s director of networks and alliances, said: "It’s clear Britons are hoping their favourite destinations will be open by the time summer comes.
"We want to provide them with access to book seats to the places they love to help them get away, and trust that if they can’t travel, we will be there for them with incredible flexibility to make changes to their bookings."