Coronavirus testing for fully vaccinated travellers arriving in England are to be axed next month, it has been revealed.
Eligible fully-vaccinated passengers arriving in the UK will “no longer have to take a post-arrival lateral flow test” from 4am on February 11, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs.
This will be a major boost for travel firms and families planning an overseas trip.
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Making a travel update statement in the Commons, Mr Shapps said: "Today I can confirm to the House that our international travel regime will also now be liberalised as part our efforts to ensure that 2022 is the year in which restrictions on travel, on lockdowns and limits on people’s lives are firmly placed in the past.
“From 4am on February 11, and in time for the half-term break, eligible fully-vaccinated passengers arriving in the UK will no longer have to take a post-arrival lateral flow test.
“That means that after months of pre-departure testing, post-arrival testing, self-isolation, additional expense, all that fully vaccinated people will now have to do, when they travel to the UK, is to verify their status via a passenger locator form.”
The announcement only applies to England, but the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have recently implemented Westminster’s changes to international travel rules.
Fully vaccinated arrivals must currently pre-book and take a post-arrival test from a private supplier.
This can be a lateral flow test, which typically costs around £19.
Mr Shapps added: “We promised we wouldn’t keep these measures in place a day longer than was necessary and it’s obvious to me now that border testing for vaccinated travellers has outlived its usefulness, and we’re therefore scrapping all travel tests for vaccinated people.
“Not only making travel much easier but also, of course, saving about £100 per family on visits abroad, providing certainty to passengers, to carriers and (the) vital tourism sector for the spring and the summer seasons.”
Arrivals who are not fully vaccinated must currently take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival PCR tests, which are more expensive than the lateral flow version.
They must also self-isolate for 10 days.
EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren welcomed the update, saying “millions of our customers” will be “delighted to see the return of restriction-free travel in the UK”.
He went on: “We believe testing for travel should now firmly become a thing of the past.
“It is clear travel restrictions did not materially slow the spread of Omicron in the UK and so it is important that there are no more knee jerk reactions to future variants.”
He added that the airline intends to return to “near-2019 levels of flying this summer”.
Abby Penlington, director at ferry trade association Discover Ferries, said the industry expects to see an increase in bookings following the relaxation of the rules, as they will make travelling “easier, cheaper and will be a further boost to consumer confidence”.
She went on: “The financial impact of testing, particularly on families, has been an additional barrier to holidaying abroad during the pandemic.”
The changes come after the bosses of major airlines wrote to the Government demanding an end to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
In the letter, they asked that restriction-free travel was restored "at the very least" for those who are fully vaccinated.
The letter was signed by the heads of Ryanair, easyJet, Loganair, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Jet2, as well as the chief executives of holiday travel group Tui and trade body Airlines UK.
