All remaining UK coronavirus travel measures including passenger locator forms will end on Friday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced.
He tweeted: “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.”
The rules were scrapped following a meeting with senior ministers on Monday. With free testing set to be axed in a matter of weeks, it effectively marks the end of all legal Covid restrictions in the country.
Covid cases have been rising across the UK but remain a fraction of the peak of previous waves. Hospitalisations have increased 19 per cent in a week in England but remain lower than last December.
The time-consuming passenger locator forms require people to fill in travel details, their address in the UK and vaccination status.
They have previously been used to track people after outbreaks of the virus.
Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of Airlines UK – the industry body representing UK carriers, welcomed the announcement, saying it sends the message that “the UK travel sector is back”.
“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,” he added.
“We’re grateful for the timing of the announcement as we prepare to welcome back passengers this Easter and Summer, for which we know there is huge pent-up demand, and for the UK’s leadership in being the first major aviation market to remove all remaining restrictions.”
Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: “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.”
