With Easter just around the corner and summer fast approaching, this announcement comes at the perfect time. The removal of passenger locator forms and testing regimes means that customers can at long last enjoy hassle-free travel, just like they did before the pandemic. Two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, today’s announcement marks international travel finally returning to normal.

Steve Heapy, CEO of and Jet2holidays, said:

People should feel encouraged to book their long-awaited holidays, trips to see relatives and friends abroad they haven’t seen for a long time and travel to rekindle business ties with other countries. Karen Dee, Chief Executive of Airport Operators Association, said:Ī return to restriction-free travel is good news for passengers and should allow for aviation to take significant steps towards recovery. The time to return to the skies – to enjoy all that makes aviation and international travel great, for families and businesses – is now. 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. 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. Today’s announcement sends a clear message to the world – the UK travel sector is back. Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of Airlines UK, said: Given the current state of the pandemic and a move towards global travel volumes returning to normal, the remaining managed hotel quarantine capacity will be fully stood down from the end of March. In future, the government’s default approach will be to use the least stringent measures, if appropriate, to minimise the impact on travel as far as possible – given the high personal, economic and international costs border measures can have – and the contingency measures will only be implemented in extreme circumstances. To ensure the protection of public health, the government will maintain a range of contingency measures in reserve, which would enable it to take swift and proportionate action to delay any future harmful variants of COVID-19 entering the UK should the need arise. 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. 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. Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:Īs we learn to live with COVID-19, we’re taking further steps to open up international travel once again ahead of the Easter holidays. I look forward to continuing to work with the travel sector and partners around the world to keep international travel moving.

I said we wouldn’t keep travel measures in place for any longer than necessary, which we’re delivering on today – providing more welcome news and greater freedom for travellers ahead of the Easter holidays. The UK is leading the world in removing all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, and today’s announcement is a testament to the hard work everyone in this country has put in place to roll out the vaccine and protect each other. This step reflects the decisions taken by the government, as set out in the Living with COVID plan, and the success of the UK’s vaccine and booster rollout, with 86% of the population having received a second dose and 67% of the population with a booster or third dose. This change, therefore, removes the need for unvaccinated passengers to take a pre-departure test and a day 2 post arrival test. The government will remove the remaining restrictions on international travel for all passengers ahead of the Easter holidays, the Transport Secretary announced today (14 March 2022).Īs one of the first major economies to remove all its remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, this is a landmark moment for passengers and the travel and aviation sector.įrom 4am Friday 18 March, all COVID-19 travel restrictions will be lifted, including the passenger locator form ( PLF) for arrivals into UK, as well as all tests for passengers who do not qualify as vaccinated. contingency plans put in place to manage any future variants of concern (VoCs).remaining managed hotel quarantine capacity will be fully stood down from the end of March, making the UK one of the first major economies to end all COVID-19 international travel rules.from 4am 18 March no-one entering the UK will need to take tests or complete a passenger locator form.

Uk passenger locator form sign in