The front pages, meanwhile, are dominated by prime minister Boris Johnson’s troubles as he faces his “deepest” leadership crisis over the Downing Street party scandal.

Elsewhere, the Costa Del Sol is seeing a surge in bookings for spring breaks and tennis star Novak Djokovic has blamed his agent for making an “administrative mistake” on his travel entry form to Australia.

Here are the headlines the travel industry woke up to on Wednesday (12 January).

Anticipation grows that France will reopen to UK travellers

Hopes are increasing that France is about to end its ban on British holidaymakers, which was introduced on 20 December because of the spread of the Omicron variant. One ski operator has even started selling trips to France departing this weekend in anticipation of the ban being lifted imminently. (The Independent)

Airline slashes flights as Covid keeps thousands of staff at home

United Airlines is scaling back its flight schedule as the US carrier struggles with widespread staff shortages caused by the Omicron variant. United has seen up to one-third of staff based at Newark airport calling in sick, with 3,000 United employees currently suffering from Covid infections. (The Telegraph)

Party over for the prime minister?

Boris Johnson is now facing the deepest crisis of his leadership over the Downing Street party scandal. The prime minister’s future is being openly questioned by some Conservative MPs who want him to address claims about the holding of a “lockdown-busting” party in No 10’s garden in May 2020. (The Daily Mail)

Costa Del Sol bookings soar as Brits scramble to book spring breaks

Bookings to the Spanish destination have rocketed as British travellers rush to book a holiday this spring. On the Beach said it has seen a 40% rise in sales to the Costa Del Sol in recent days following the showing of Channel 4’s new dating show Language of Love, which is filmed in the region. (Evening Standard)

Djokovic admits breaching isolation rules while positive for Covid

Tennis star Novak Djokovic has blamed his agent for making a mistake on his travel entry form to Australia when declaring he had not travelled in the two weeks before his arrival. Djokovic, who is unvaccinated against Covid, was allowed into Australia after winning a court case on Monday (10 January), but his visa could still be cancelled by Australia’s immigration minister. (BBC News)

Britain ‘will be among first’ to emerge from Covid pandemic

The UK will be one of the first countries in the world to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a leading public health expert, who says very high levels of immunity seem to be “keeping the virus at bay”. Covid-related hospital admissions have now stopped rising across most of England. (The Times)