The UK government has announced that it will remove the remaining Covid restrictions to travel from Friday.
In a tweet, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that all remaining Covid travel measures would be ‘stood down’.
TRAVEL UPDATE
All remaining Covid travel measures, including the Passenger Locator Form and tests for all arrivals, will be stood down for travel to the UK from 4am on 18 March.
These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout and mean greater freedom in time for Easter.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 14, 2022
From tomorrow (Wednesday) Heathrow has announced it will remove the mandate for face covering in the airport.
Heathrow removes face covering mandate
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic say they will also be revising their onboard face covering policies as well, “as soon as regulatory requirements for their destinations allow.”
A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said,
The removal of all remaining UK travel restrictions, including the Passenger Locator Form, is the final important step towards frictionless air travel, helping to further restore consumer confidence as we welcome more customers back to the skies this Spring and Summer.”
“With these barriers to travel removed, Britain is open for business and passengers can reconnect with loved ones and business colleagues once again. To uphold the experience of all travellers, it’s vital that the UK Government works closely with industry to ensure the UK border is ready for increasing passengers, as international travel ramps up.”
Johan Lundgren, easyJet CEO commented:
“This welcome move by the UK Government marks a return to truly restriction-free flying to and from the UK, giving an extra boost to travel this Easter. We are looking ahead to what we expect to be a strong summer for easyJet, with plans to return to near 2019 levels of flying. We can’t wait to welcome more customers back on board.”
Julia Simpson, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said: “Other countries ditched Passenger Locator forms weeks ago, but it is good news the UK Government has now scrapped all travel restrictions for coming to the UK.
American Express Global Business Travel’s Chief Commercial Officer, Drew Crawley said “This long-overdue decision to remove these costly restrictions is good news for the sector and the economy. We can now look forward to an accelerated return of business travel and a more frictionless end-to-end experience for travellers. If we are to be a successful international trading nation in this post-Brexit, post-pandemic era, the government must now be resolutely focused on supporting the travel and aviation sectors.”
