Covid travel restrictions into UK to be scrapped this week

Travellers arriving in the UK will no longer be faced with Covid restrictions which are scrapped from this Friday 18 

Grant Schapps, the British Transport Secretary announced today, Monday, March 14, that all remaining Covid travel restrictions relating to entry into the UK will finally be scrapped from 4am this Friday 18. This means that any traveller arriving in Britain from 4am this Friday, need not comply with the current rules.

Posting on his official Twitter account, Mr Schapps said, “These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout, and mean greater freedom in time for Easter. This will mean holidaymakers will be able to enter the UK without any restrictions for the first time since the start of the pandemic in spring 2020”.

This measure includes PCR tests for arrivals, and the Passenger Locator Form, although it will still be necessary to fill out the passenger locator form, detailing the traveller’s address, phone number, passport, and flight details, within 72 hours of travel.

“As we learn to live with Covid, we’re taking further steps to open up international travel once again ahead of the Easter holidays. We will continue monitoring and tracking potential new variants, and keep a reserve of measures that can be rapidly deployed if needed to keep us safe”, commented Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

Adding, “We can remove these final restrictions thanks to the incredible success of our vaccination programme, which has seen more than 8 out of 10 adults across the UK boosted”.

British Airways remove the requirement for facemasks at Heathrow airport

In a statement released by British Airways at Heathrow airport, they announced, “Effective from Wednesday 16 March, we’ll remove the requirement for wearing face coverings at the airport. We still strongly encourage both colleagues & passengers to wear them, particularly when they come into close contact with others, but this will no longer be mandatory”.

“Passengers may still be required to wear a face-covering onboard their flight, and should check the airlines’ requirements before travelling”, they added.

The announcement by Grant Schapps was welcomed by the chief executive of Airlines UK, Tim Alderslade, who said, “With travellers returning to the UK no longer burdened by unnecessary forms and testing requirements, we can now look forward to the return to pre-Covid normality throughout the travel experience”, as reported by news.sky.com.

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