Portugal goes from green to amber - but what’s it like to travel there?

With restrictions lifted on international travel, Scarlett Sangster stepped on board the first British Airways flight to now amber-listed Portugal.

Monday May 17, 4.30am: as I stand in a queue at Heathrow for waiting for check-in, Michael, a British Airways (BA) employee who’d clearly had far more coffee than me, is excitedly moving barriers to create the most efficient queuing system. I’ve not been on a plane for over a year, but already, the scenario feels weirdly normal.

A few days earlier, Vida Boylan, a tester for Covid travel test provider Qured, had knocked at my door to conduct the first of three coronavirus tests booked for my trip to Portugal on the momentous day international travel restrictions would be eased, before Portugal moved from the green to amber list.

It took 24-hours to receive my negative result, which I uploaded, along with my Passenger Locator Form, as required by the Portuguese government, onto the British Airways website. My second lateral flow test would come with me to Portugal, while the third would be waiting when I got back home. Altogether, these measures added £300 to the cost of my trip.

When I arrive at the airport, check-in is smooth. BA have already verified my documents online and there are no queues at security. All-in-all, the whole experience is far less stressful than I remember.

Inside a very quiet Heathrow Terminal 5, I buy a coffee and wait for my fellow passengers to arrive. It is, I’m told, a full flight. But why had these passengers raced to book a place on the first escape? The answer, I would soon discover, is not necessarily for a holiday.

For weeks, papers have been predicting the mass return of holidaymakers to green-listed beaches. However, the excited flyers I meet on Monday have far more ‘essential’ reasons to travel.

Anya Edwards, 20, is one of many travellers preparing to reunite with loved ones. “I’m going to see my boyfriend – he lives out there,” she says. “It won’t be touristy; I’ll just be staying in his flat and letting him show me around. The testing is expensive, but after not seeing people you love for such a long time, it drives the price down.”

Staff serving food on the first BA holiday flight back to Lisbon.

Jill Osborne, 48, is also looking forward to a reunion. “I threw caution to the wind a couple of weeks ago, hoping to meet family and friends in Lisbon. I prayed because the numbers were going down, Portugal might be on the green list.”

Meanwhile, new parents Natacha and Miguel Rodrigues, who both work at Frimley Park Hospital in Hampshire, are taking seven-month-year-old son Gabriel to meet his grandparents for the first time. “I feel very emotional,” says Natacha. “It’s been a challenging and scary time without hands to help.”

Outside gate A13, the atmosphere is far from anxious. Despite the masks, which are mandatory throughout the airport, and the cost of testing, everyone seems to feel the benefits of travel far outweigh any added stress caused by the new measures, or risk they might be taking.

Claire Madden and Steve Wilson, both 52, talk about their experience so far: “We flew last summer. It’s a lot quieter now than at the end of August. We left plenty of time, anticipating it would be difficult, but it’s been really smooth. I think that’s because British Airways allow you to upload all your documents, your negative PCR test and your Portugal passenger form, before you get here. If we were 20-years older, it might have been more difficult to use the system. But for us, it was really easy.”

An empty Heathrow Terminal 5 on May 17, the day international travel restrictions were relaxed. PA

Boarding the plane, the BA crew greet us with warm smiles and an antiseptic wipe. We wear facemasks for the duration of the flight, except during meal service. Aside from that, the flight feels pretty normal.

I ask a member of the crew if there are measures I hadn’t noticed.

Sarah Gourley, inflight lead, explains: “We’ve introduced several measures; as well as the sanitising wipes, we also disembark and bring people onto the plane in smaller numbers. Everyone’s wearing masks and we’ve limited the time people can spend walking up and down the aisles. We also clean and sanitise the bathrooms after every use.”

Landing in Humberto Delgado Airport, it takes less than 20 minutes to get from the plane, through immigration and customs with my non-EU passport. Restrictions in Portugal include a six-person limit on gatherings indoors and outdoors. Shops and restaurants are open, along with cinemas and theatres, though with reduced opening hours. There’s also a 10.30pm curfew on restaurants and cafés, while bars and nightlife remain closed.

Scarlett Sangster in Lisbon.

Portuguese authorities require you to wear a face mask in all public places, including outside. This is relaxed a little on beaches, where you can remove it after setting a designated area for your group of six – although I was warned I could be fined up to €100 if I initially stepped on to the sand without a mask, or failed to comply with social distancing rules.

These measures sound pretty strict, but once you get over the idea of a face-mask-shaped tan-line, Lisbon feels no stricter than London.

So, was the sand packed with British tourists? The answer is no. Lisbon was ghostly quiet. Of course, it was only day one, and I’d been told 5,500 Brits were due across Portugal in the first 24 hours of UK restrictions lifting. But having spoken to fellow travellers, I’m mildly sceptical about how many really are ‘tourists’.

Visitors to Lisbon certainly won’t get the same experience as pre-pandemic. However, I rather enjoyed the calm. There were no crowds, the locals were friendly, and the sun glorious. If anything, I savoured my little slice of Portuguese life, almost completely tourist-free.

With the need to self-quarantine on return, it won’t be a flood, but a trickle back to travel. One thing’s for sure: Portugal offers a beautiful destination for a quiet escape from the British weather.

How to plan your trip

Lisbon Cathedral and one of its much-loved yellow trams.

British Airways Holidays offers four nights, at the 4* H10 Duque de Loule from £419pp, travelling on selected dates between June 21-30, 2021. Price includes economy return flights from London Heathrow Airport, 23kg luggage allowance and accommodation with breakfast. For reservations, visit ba.com/lisbon.

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