Those planning to visit the UK soon can breathe a sigh of relief. Now they don’t have to follow any more complex travel restrictions. Yes, finally! The UK eases out COVID-19 international travel restrictions. The United Kingdom has decided to do away with any kind of COVID-19 curbs following a dip in cases and a rise in vaccinations across various countries. All remaining pandemic-related international travel restrictions, including filling in Passenger Locator Forms before arrival; and compulsory pre-departure tests for unvaccinated travelers, have been scrapped from Friday, the UK government announced on Thursday.
The administration has stated that it will have a variety of contingency measures in reserve; allowing for quick and appropriate action to prevent any future hazardous COVID-19 variations from entering the country. “Everything we have worked for, every jab, every test, and the sacrifices made by the whole country means that finally, nearly two years on, we can all travel without bureaucratic restrictions,” said UK Aviation Minister Robert Courts.
No mandatory quarantine from the end of March
Officials said that in the future, the default strategy will be to utilise the least rigorous procedures feasible to reduce the impact on travel as much as possible, with contingency measures being used only in extreme instances. From the end of March, all remaining mandatory hotel quarantine will be totally freed. Only travelers with vaccination were could skip PCR tests before today; those who did not take vaccination were to do a pre-departure test and a second test two days after arriving in the UK.
“I said we wouldn’t keep travel measures in place for any longer than necessary, which we are delivering on 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 sector, and partners around the world to keep international travel moving,” said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
The UK’s travel industry has widely welcomed the changes as much needed support for the struggling industry. The time to return to the skies to enjoy all that makes aviation and international travel great; for families and businesses is now, said Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of Airlines UK.
