Good morning, and welcome to the morning after the green list review.

It wasn’t as disappointing as the 3 June iteration, at least: Malta, the Balearics and Madeira (which was previously on the list) were all added to the quarantine-free register.

Follow live updates as we bring you travel industry reaction and all the latest traffic light news.

EasyJet has put more than 50,000 extra seats on sale from the UK to new green list destinations, including two new routes from Bristol and Luton to Malta which will launch next month.

The chief executive, Johan Lundgren, repeated criticism of the government’s travel policy.

The boss of Britain’s biggest budget airline said: “With two thirds of UK adults expected to be double jabbed by 19 July, now is the time to let British citizens take advantage of the success of the vaccination programme.

“This is overdue and unless testing is also removed flying could become the preserve of the rich again.”

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, described the chaotic revelation of the expanded “green list” as “disgraceful”.

The first the travel industry knew about the guarded expansion of quarantine-free locations was when it appeared on a Northern Ireland government website.“Disgraceful,” she said. “No other words. They simply do not care.

“So no briefing and no communication other than Northern Ireland announcing a green list. Again complete lack of respect for the public and the travel industry.”

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has urged holidaymakers to ensure their plans are “changeable” if they’re travelling to a green watchlist country.

Malta, Madeira and the Balearics were all added to the green list on Thursday, but only Malta was added to the “full” green list.

The Cabinet minister told Sky News: “It does mean there is a little bit of relief for the travel industry and for people who wish to get away.

“It won’t be quite like it was in 2019 and the old days, but we are moving in a positive direction.”

Mr Shapps explained the green watchlist, which has so far been unused.

“It means they are on the green list, you can go and it is treated like a green list country, but we are just being completely open with the data that the scientists have given us in saying, there are one or two concerns, it might mean we have to perhaps respond quickly on there, so we’ve said it is the green watchlist in order that people can see exactly what we’re seeing.

“I do have to say whoever is booking to go anywhere this summer at all, travel insurance, making sure your flights are changeable, making sure the accommodation is changeable - all those things are going to be very important in this particular year and I think people will need to weigh up whether that is going to work for them or not.”

Additional reporting by agencies

The green watchlist that was promised in the May travel update was finally unveiled at Thursday’s traffic light review.

There are currently 17 territories on the watchlist, including recently added Madeira and the Balearics.

These are countries that are at risk of turning amber, according to the government.

Here’s the full list here:

There are still issues to be worked out when it comes to allowing people who have had both vaccinations to travel to amber list countries without needing to quarantine, according to a Cabinet minister.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps told LBC radio: “I thought it was a good idea to let people see what we are seeing, which is that, increasingly, scientific data is showing that if you have had two jabs then you’re pretty well protected and much less likely to carry the disease to other people as well, and therefore we might be able to have a situation where people who are jabbed going to an amber country as if they were going to a green country, meaning they would not have to quarantine.

“But there are quite a lot of things we need to sort out before we can do that.

“What would happen with children, for example? The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have yet to opine on whether children should be able to get vaccines or not.

“What happens because not everyone can get a vaccine? How do you treat people who didn’t get their vaccine in the UK and therefore don’t have evidence of it?

“So there are a lot of things we are working through still and so I’ll come back next month and say more.”

Mr Shapps said he will not be making any further announcement before July 19 when domestic coronavirus restrictions are due to be lifted, and that any double-jab holiday exemptions are likely to take a “phased approach”.

Reporting by agencies

Well, some good news. Some random overseas territories are now on the green watchlist, including the super remote Pitcairn Islands deep in the Pacific Ocean or British Antarctic Territory (yes, on Antarctica).

In fact, the journey is so long to both that it might take you longer than the 10 days of self-isolation to get there.

The phenomenal distance of Britain’s far-flung territories is not the only drawback: the temperature at the British Antarctic Territory’s Rothera research station on Thursday was -1C (-10C in the wind) and it has been enduring midwinter darkness for weeks.

Read more here:

The transport secretary has insisted the government approach to traffic light reshuffles is “all based on the scientific evidence”.

Just Malta was added to the “full” green list, with a swathe of other holiday islands added to the “green watchlist”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Grant Shapps said the Joint Biosecurity Centre is tracking epidemiological data such as a country’s vaccination levels, their ability to track the genome sequencing of Covid-19, and how open they are with data.

He was asked about arguments that some destinations, such as some Greek islands and the US, should be added to the green list according to data.

Mr Shapps said: “It’s all based on the scientific evidence”, adding that some islands often lack a genomic sequencing ability, while in the US the “picture is mixed”.

“There’s no circumstance in which there is not a scientific basis and I encourage people to look at the way that the Joint Biosecurity Centre do this,” he said.

Additional reporting by agencies

Malta was added to the UK’s green list on Thursday - the only holiday island to receive “full” green status.

But what are its own entry requirements, and what are the rules when you’re there?

The Independent’s Helen Coffey has everything you need to know here:

Need to talk about the green list? Us too. Thankfully The Independent’s Simon Calder is on hand today at 12pm to do an ‘Ask Me Anything’ on everything to do with traffic lights and the green list.

All you need to do is comment in the box at the bottom of the article here, and join the conversation at 12pm.

See you there!