All Covid-19 travel restrictions removed in UK from Friday UK News

The Government is set to remove remaining restrictions on international travel for all passengers ahead of the Easter holidays, the Transport Secretary announced today (Monday March 14).

As one of the first major economies to remove all of its remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, this is a historic moment for passengers and the travel and aviation industry.

From 4am on Friday March 18, all COVID-19 related travel restrictions will be lifted, including the Passenger Locator Form (PLF) for arrivals in the UK, as well as all testing for unvaccinated passengers. This change therefore removes the need for unvaccinated passengers to take a test before departure and a test on day 2 after arrival.

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This milestone reflects the decisions taken by the government, as set out in the Living with COVID-19 plan, and the successful roll-out and booster in the UK, with 86% of the population having received a second dose , and 67% of the population with a booster or a third dose.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘The UK is leading the world in removing all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, and today’s announcement is a testament to the hard work that everyone in this country has put in place to deploy the vaccine and protect themselves. .

“I said we would not keep travel measures in place any longer than necessary, which we are delivering today – providing more welcome news and greater freedom for travelers ahead of the Easter holidays.

“I look forward to continuing to work with the travel industry and partners around the world to advance international travel.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid added: “As we learn to live with Covid, we are taking further steps to reopen international travel ahead of the Easter holidays.

“We will continue to monitor and track potential new variants and maintain a pipeline of measures that can be deployed quickly if necessary to ensure our safety.

“We can remove these final restrictions thanks to the incredible success of our vaccination program which has seen more than 8 in 10 adults across the UK strengthened.”

In order to ensure the protection of public health, the government will maintain in reserve a series of emergency measures which, if necessary, would enable it to take prompt and proportionate action to delay the entry of any future harmful variants of the COVID-19 in the UK.

Going forward, the Government’s default approach will be to use the least stringent measures, where appropriate, to minimize the impact on travel as much as possible – given the high personal, economic and international costs that border measures may have – and emergency measures will only be implemented in extreme circumstances.

Given the current state of the pandemic and a trend towards a return to normal global travel volumes, the remaining managed hotel quarantine capacity will be phased out entirely from the end of March.

Tim Alderslade, Managing Director of Airlines UK, said: “Today’s announcement sends a clear message to the world that the UK travel industry is back. With travelers returning to the UK no longer burdened with unnecessary forms and testing requirements, we can now expect a return to pre-Covid normality throughout the travel experience.

“We are grateful for the timing of the announcement as we prepare to welcome back passengers over Easter and the summer, for which we know there is huge pent-up demand, and for the leadership of the UK as the first major aviation market to remove all remaining restrictions.

“The time to get back to the skies – to enjoy all that makes aviation and international travel great, for families and businesses – is now.”

Karen Dee, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association, added: “A return to unrestricted travel is good news for passengers and should see aviation take significant steps towards recovery.

“People should feel encouraged to book their long-awaited vacations, trips to see relatives and friends abroad they haven’t seen for a long time, and trips to rekindle business ties with other countries. .”

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, said: “Two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, today’s announcement marks the return to normal international travel at last.

“The removal of passenger locator forms and testing regimes means customers can finally enjoy hassle-free travel, just as they did before the pandemic.

“With Easter fast approaching and summer fast approaching, this announcement comes at the perfect time.

“Since restrictions began to be eased earlier this year, we have seen strong and sustained demand and the complete removal of forms and requirements will boost this demand even further.”

Additionally, the UKHSA will continue to closely monitor the prevalence and…