Another 10 nations could be added to the UK Government's travel green list in the next review of the traffic light system.
Scientists are reported to be investigating countries which could be included in the quarantine-free travel category ahead of an announcement next week by transport secretary Grant Shapps.
The green list currently includes 29 destinations such as Barbados, Madeira, Malta and Iceland, but experts believe many other countries warrant a place.
Travel guru Paul Charles, founder of The PC Agency, said Austria, Bosnia, Canada, Czech Republic. Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia and Slovenia are likely to get a green rating.
He said: "Many nations have been deserving of green status for some weeks. So, while welcome, these upgrades are long overdue."
Meanwhile Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade has claimed the traffic light system “has so far failed to achieve the sustained and meaningful restart to international travel that was intended."
In a letter to Grant Shapps, he wrote: “In Europe, passenger bookings recovered to 50 per cent of pre-crisis levels in June compared to just 16 per cent in the UK.
“Demand to the UK from the US remains only around 20 per cent of 2019 levels, whereas to the EU it is around 65 per cent. The decision to remove Portugal from the green list, closely followed by the Balearics less than a month after initial inclusion on the green list, brought travel purchasing back to the same fraught position as last year.”
Mr Alderslade also criticised the decision to move France into a amber-plus category just days after a travel review.
He warned the sector remained “in a deeply precarious situation at the height of summer, putting many aviation jobs at risk”.
Airlines UK, with members including easyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, Jet2, Virgin Atlantic and TUI, described the UK Government’s policy on international travel restrictions “frustrating, last-minute and opaque.”
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