Red list to be scrapped from tomorrow, government confirms
The UK Government has confirmed that the travel red list – which includes countries such as South Africa and Botswana – will be scrapped from tomorrow 4am, less than two weeks after it was introduced following concerns over the new Omicron variant.
Testing measures will remain in place.
Health secretary Sajid Javid confirmed the decision, as the government is now accepting that the new variant – which is now accounting for 20 per cent of all Covid cases in England – can no longer be contained.
“Now that there is community transmission, the travel red list is less effective,” the Independent reported Javid say.
The news received a lukewarm welcome by the travel industry, as Airlines UK’s chief executive Tim Alderslade said the move “makes complete sense but doesn’t nearly go far enough.”
“If the red list isn’t necessary given that omicron is established here at home, then neither are the costly emergency testing and isolation measures imposed on even fully vaccinated travellers, which again put us completely at odds with the rest of Europe,” he said. “It is testing that is the deterrent to travel, not the relatively limited red list.
“The health secretary says he wants to act quickly to remove unnecessary restrictions, and we implore him to make good on this by scrapping testing as soon as possible, otherwise the key Christmas and New Year booking period will be undermined.
“This is make or break for UK aviation and if the government is unable to row back from these restrictions over the New Year, it will need to step in with further economic support for a sector that again has been singled out”.
Alderslade’s words were echoed by Business Travel Association’s (BTA) boss Clive Wratten, who said testing requirements continued to hamper business while World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) president Julia Simpson said the trade body was “deeply disappointed” about PCRs remaining in place.
“The BTA urges the government to work with the industry to create effective plans for future variants and a tailored package of support as we remain the only sector operating under restrictions,” Wratten said.
Just yesterday bosses of major airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Easyjet signed a letter asking the Prime Minister to rescind travel restrictions and extend Covid support to the industry.
“Whilst we fully recognise the need to take steps to contain the initial impact of the Omicron variant, travel has been singled out with the introduction of disproportionate restrictions,” the letter said. “Further, pre-departure and upon-arrival testing clearly add very little value to our Covid protection, but unnecessarily disrupt Christmas for families as well as businesses while severely damaging the UK travel industry.”
“We have also seen immediate problems with red list arrivals, with many customers booking hotels which either were not ready or had been double booked, requiring them to rebook and pay again. Many people are stranded abroad through no fault of their own, due to a policy that cannot be executed properly.
“We urgently request you meet with us, to understand the problems that we and our customers are now facing because of these measures, which the Transport Secretary himself admitted risked ‘killing off’ the travel industry. We urge you to act now to prevent this from happening.”