Vaccinated UK holidaymakers may be allowed to bypass lengthy airport queues when landing in Greece if trips are given the go-ahead this summer.
Greek officials reportedly intend to let tourists who have been given the Covid jab use a special 'green lane', which instead of the longer queue for those who have received a negative coronavirus test.
Greece hopes to launch the new service by mid-May, and tourists will have to use an app to prove they have received the jab under the scheme, reports MirrorOnline.
A source told a national newspaper that negotiations between the UK and Greece are in the 'advance stages'.
They added: "Our objective is to get the system in place by mid-May. The UK government knows that Greece is a favourite destination for millions of Britons and it wants to facilitate things so that travel can resume."
Vaccine passports will include passengers' names, passport numbers and confirmation they have been given the jab, it has been reported.
The certificates mean passengers could avoid waiting in line to show their Covid test results to Greek officials. However, Department for Transport officials said the plans were still 'nowhere near being signed off by ministers'.
Spanish tourism officials have also confirmed their intention to introduce Covid immunity passports. Resorts in the Balearic Islands want to welcome UK holidaymakers and officials have offered to operate a pilot scheme for the use of vaccine passports in Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca.
UK Government sources have said the prospect of foreign trips this summer is looking “increasingly positive”.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese island of Madeira has opened a ‘green corridor’ to admit tourists who have been vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19.
However, it is on the UK Government ‘red list’ of destinations, meaning that those arriving in Britain must quarantine for 10 days in an airport hotel.
Tourists must prove their status through one of two documents – either proof of Covid-19 recovery in the last 90 days, or an official vaccination certificate, which includes the date of the two doses taken.
Details must be submitted to the Madeirasafe.com app before the trip is taken.
