A string of popular holiday destinations have been added to the UK’s travel corridor list, the transport secretary has announced.

Britons travelling to Spain’s Canary Islands, Denmark, the Greek island of Mykonos, and the Maldives will no longer need to self-isolate upon return.

The restrictions will be lifted from 4am on Sunday.

However, Liechtenstein has been removed from the travel corridors list, meaning travellers returning from there will have to quarantine for a fortnight from the same date.

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Travel company Tui welcomed the move and said UK flights will now be able to resume from Saturday, with the first departing to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

More destinations will be added in the coming days, it added.

Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui UK & Ireland, said: ‘We haven’t been able to take people on a Tui holiday to the Canary Islands for 89 days, when the sudden quarantine and subsequent travel advice was imposed with little notice.

‘We’re therefore delighted that UK flights will now resume from Saturday October 24.’

But he issued a plea to the Government to continue working closely with the industry on airport testing, so more flights can be made available soon to help the struggling industry.

Mr Flintham added: ‘We must move away, where possible, from the anxiety our industry faces waiting for the new list of places people can travel to each week.

‘This level of uncertainty is damaging for business and all those employed in our industry.’

A spokeswoman for travel trade organisation Abta said the announcement was ‘a bit of light at the end of a very dark tunnel for the travel industry’.

She continued: ‘We have been highlighting the need to move to a regional approach to quarantine, citing the Canary Islands as a specific example, so it is good to see the Government take action on this today.

‘But we must remember that the pandemic brought foreign travel to a standstill and for most companies there has been little or no chance to start a recovery.’

It come as Heathrow Airport this week launched its rapid testing programme in the hopes ministers will scrap or shorten the travel quarantine.

Passengers flying out from the airport would ideally receive their Covid-19 results within an hour, after booking online before arriving.

The £80 tests are initially on offer to people travelling to Hong Kong and Italy – which both require a negative Covid-19 test result before entry into the country – from terminals 2 and 5.

But Heathrow plans to expand the scheme in the coming, amid growing pressure to find alternatives to two week quarantine periods.

The facility will initially remain open for four weeks.

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