Boris Johnson, in an important boost for the beleaguered tourism industry, announced that there will be no more tests before travellers arrive in England.
The Prime Minister stated in a Commons Statement that Omicron is so common in Britain now, it is not affecting the spread of the illness. This is a major boost for holidaymakers.
According to him, the MPs are being told that travellers will no longer be required to isolate themselves upon their arrival until receiving a negative PCR result.
Instead, rules will be restored to what was in effect in October. Travellers are required to undergo lateral flow tests no later that the second day following arrival.
After the November discovery of Omicron in South Africa, the measures were initially introduced.
Today’s announcement was welcomed by travel companies. The boss of Jet2, Steve Heapy said that the company had seen a huge increase in traffic to its website and increased bookings since Mr Johnson’s announcement.
Boris Johnson announced that pre-departure Covid testing for travelers arriving in England will be scrapped. This is a huge boost to the struggling travel industry.
Johnson stated to the House that the Omicron variant had been first discovered. We therefore introduced travel restrictions in order to delay its arrival into our country.
“But Omicron has become so widespread, the measures have limited effect on growth of cases and continue to be a significant cost for our industry.
“So, I am able to announce that we are going to scrap the pre-departure testing in England starting Friday at 4 a.m. That test discourages people from traveling abroad for fear of getting stuck and incurring additional expense.”
This announcement, which applies to passengers under 18 years old who have been fully vaccinated, was widely welcomed by the travel sector which has been especially hard hit by the pandemic.
Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade said that it would provide a “massive boost” to the industry at a “critical” time in the year.
He said that customers will no longer be restricted from booking when they are fully vaccinated.
“Today’s announcement is an important step toward learning to live alongside this virus. This will allow passengers to be able to look ahead to spring and summer, and help the travel industry.
Johan Lundgren, chief executive of EasyJet, also welcomed this move. However, he said that the Government must go further.
He said, “This will make traveling much easier and more enjoyable and allow our customers to travel confidently.”
“But, the government must urgently make the final steps towards restrict-free travel. It should remove any unnecessary tests for travellers who have been vaccinated so that flying is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
The Prime Minister stated in a Commons Statement that Omicron is so common in Britain now, it is not having any impact on spreading the disease. This is a major boost for holidaymakers
Steve Heapy is the CEO of Jet2.com.
“Despite this, it is the good news for our customers to have these restrictions lifted. We are seeing a surge in travel and bookings that shows that UK vacationmakers want holidays back.
“Customers have been clamouring for the chance to take the holiday they’ve always wanted and we want to make it even better. That’s why we launched this sale.
He said, “Whether it’s a family vacation, a getaway with the other half, or a get-together for all, we understand how important everyone is to have a well-deserved holiday.”
“Holidays have never been easier. We can now see how important it is to customer confidence, whether you are looking for sun, skiing, or leisure-city holidays.
Heathrow Airport spokesperson said, “While this is good news, we still have a lot of work to do for the aviation industry, which continues to be the engine of our economy. It supports thousands of jobs across all four continents.”
Even fully-vaccinated vacationers must pass two health tests in the UK before they can return to their country.
Current rules require one quick swab to be performed pre-return within 72-hours of arrival in the UK, and another post-arrival PCR testing by the second day.
The results must be received by travelers. If they are not, the traveller can remain in isolation for several days.
To stop Omicron from being imported, quarantine restrictions were increased at the end November.
Pictured: Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, on May 1, 2021
The cost of families’ foreign travels was increased by hundreds of pounds through testing fees.
These fears also increase if the pre-return results prove positive. Accordingly, travel companies have reported significant cancellations.
Travellers were not required to undergo a quick screening post-arrival before the November change.
Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade stated yesterday that the relaxed rules would attract more foreign travelers and help boost domestic tourism.
He stated, “This is not just about outbound holiday.
“We are losing billions of revenue from people who would normally travel to the UK to shop and eat in shops or restaurants.
“This competition is at the end the day. We need to draw people to the UK and not just put up big signs saying ‘closed to business.’
“We cannot have international travel, and the many thousands of livelihoods and jobs that depend upon it. We must be treated different to hospitality and other domestic industries.
“If Omicron is not a concern at home, the argument for maintaining the aviation emergency testing requirements is weak, as it is currently the most dominant in the UK.”
BBC Breakfast: Dr Mike Tildesley (University of Warwick) told BBC Breakfast that the lateral flows are very precise when it comes to recording positive results.
“Of course with a PCR testing, a few can be sent off for sequencing. Then you will get further information about the virus.
“So that information could be lost but only a small subset of those PCR test results are sent away to sequencing. So, hopefully we won’t lose the information we have already in this country that allows us to identify variants.
According to him, it is’very important’ that even PCRs are dropped from the system so that results can be recorded for lateral flows.
He said that when there are a lot of cases in the UK and testing for travel is no longer required, it becomes less crucial to test upon arrival.
So that is probably the reason why there are changes coming to the support travel industry as well as to reduce testing requirements.
Hawkins said that these restrictions had a major impact on the number and use of its services by travellers.
He stated that passenger numbers have fallen by around a third in the period October to November.
“Passengers responded positively to the lifting travel restrictions and we saw a high level of recovery. However, the new measures at December’s end and November knocked this back by around a third.
“We had about 60% of our travel level in 2019 and have fallen back to 40%.
“We are experiencing higher absences, along with many other businesses and transport suppliers and it’s putting the business under considerable pressure.
However, January tends to be a more quiet month than we expect and our recovery has been hampered by testing.
“So, we have enough headroom to absorb these kinds of pressures right now. But we are keeping an eye on the absence levels and trends in the coming weeks.