UK’s Covid Travel Restrictions now Dropped

Remaining rules including mandatory passenger locator forms and tests for unvaccinated arrivals end.

Ministers approved the scrapping of passenger locator forms and the requirement for all unvaccinated arrivals to get tested, with the changes to come into force from 4am on Friday.

Quarantine hotels, which have not been used since the “red list” of countries was emptied in December but have been kept on standby, will also be fully stood down from the end of March.

Tory MPs and the aviation industry had put pressure on the government to make the move before April, given all domestic restrictions have already been repealed.

Announcing the change, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said on Monday it would “mean greater freedom for travellers ahead of the Easter holidays”.

The decision will be welcomed by the travel industry. On Monday, Heathrow announced that air passengers travelling through the airport will no longer be required to wear a mask from Wednesday. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they were also preparing to drop the requirement onboard, when flying to destinations that do not require face coverings on planes.

Heathrow said it would still strongly encourage people to continue to wear masks at the airport, in recognition that the pandemic was not over, but it would no longer be a firm requirement – mirroring the practice around UK transport.

BA and Virgin said rules would depend on the destinations with masks required on many routes, including to the US until at least 18 April. Thanks to the Guardian