Travel stocks remained firmly in the red on Tuesday as MPs are set to vote on more stringent laws that would impose a £5,000 fine on Britons attempting a foreign holiday.
The new rules would come into effect on March 29 and would apply to those leaving the country without a reasonable excuse.
READ: Airlines shares under pressure as Britons may be looking at another summer of ‘staycations’
Westminster is expected to announce new rules on international travel next month, while the roadmap out of lockdown indicates May 17 as a tentative date for people to go abroad.
UK residents can now leave the country for limited reasons and need to show proof of negative COVID-19 test on arrival, followed by ten days of quarantine and two further tests.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said it was "too early to say" when foreign holidays would be allowed again because of rising infections in Europe, Sky News reported.
France, Germany and Italy announced further lockdown measures over the weekend while the Continent is still grappling with a slow vaccine rollout.
However, Hancock noted that there are no plans to enforce mandatory hotel quarantine on travellers coming from Europe.
“We don’t have any plans to do that... we don’t rule it out but we don’t have plans to do that now,” he told LBC radio.
“We’ve got to protect this country and the progress that we’ve made, but at the same time I totally understand that lots of people want to travel abroad this summer.”
Carnival plc (LON:CCL) shed 5% to 1,582p, British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LON:IAG), easyJet plc (LON:EZJ) and TUI AG (LON:TUI) were all down 4% to 187.65p, 903.6p and 364.15p, while Wizz Air Holdings plc (LON:WIZZ) dipped 2% to 4,711p on Tuesday morning.