When will Turkey be moved onto the green list?
Simon Calder answer your questions on travel restrictions, Covid testing and navigating the traffic light system
Q When realistically could Turkey be moved to the green list? Anytime within the summer school holidays, or by October half term?
Lisa S
A Turkey was added to the red list on 12 May. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, warned no one should go there “except in the most extreme of circumstances”.
Anyone travelling to the UK who has been in Turkey in the past 10 days before the day of arrival must pay in advance for 11 nights in hotel quarantine after touchdown. The cost starts at £1,750 for a solo traveller.
Like the other 49 nations on the UK’s red list, Turkey has a mountain to climb before reaching the hallowed status of a green list country – from which there is no self-isolation requirement.
First, Turkey must move from red to the “amber list”, from which travellers must self-isolate at home for 10 days (with the possibility of shortening quarantine with a “test to release” after five days). This would be a useful first stage. There are rumours – nothing stronger – in the travel industry that this could happen as soon as the next review on Thursday 24 June.
However, there is a large problem in the shape of two busy international hub airports: the new Istanbul airport and the older Sabiha Gokcen. The UK government is known to be worried about locations in which large numbers of passengers converge.
Even if this is not an overriding concern, amber to green is likely to be a tricky process. The actions of the UK government indicate there is no interest in easing travel restrictions before the rescheduled domestic opening of England on 19 July.
I imagine Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece will be granted quarantine-free status well before Turkey. So I speculate Turkey may make the green list in September, too late for the school summer holidays but in good time for October half term.
Q I’m wondering if there is a guide online anywhere for people travelling to amber countries? I know which tests I need to book – but I can’t find any information about what I need to present at the British Airways check-in desk before I travel. For example, will they ask to see proof of the test I have booked to take when I’m out in Greece? Or my day two and day eight tests?
Name supplied
A There are various online guides but I wouldn’t guarantee their veracity; things are changing fast. Always check the official information from your destination country. “One journey at a time” sums up the approach to travel this summer. When you are leaving the UK, the only thing British Airways (or any other international transport provider) is concerned about: do you meet the requirements of the destination country?
In the case of Greece, that currently consists of proof of vaccination at least 14 days ago or a PCR test taken within 72 hours, plus a completed Greek passenger locator form – though do check again shortly before departure.
Despite what many people believe, there is no requirement for a test either to board a plane or to leave the UK.
Coming home, the same principle applies: BA wants to check you have fulfilled the copious requirements of the UK. That means a pre-departure test (any variety, but the certificate must be in English, French or Spanish) and a completed UK passenger locator form (PLF). You are unlikely to be asked for proof of post-arrival tests because you can only complete a PLF by uploading details of pre-booking two post-arrival PCR tests for days two and eight, plus a third (any variety) for day five if you live in England and plan to “test to release”.
The current system is hugely complex but is likely to be eased only when the government is comfortable about large numbers of British people going abroad – possibly not until early August.
Q I’m in Qatar, which is a red list country, and leaving imminently to return to the UK. But I do not want to go into hotel quarantine. So therefore I am travelling via Iceland. Does the requirement to be in a green list country, such as Iceland, for 10 days begin on the day of arrival, or is the day after counted as “day one”?
I’m arriving in Iceland on 18 June and leaving on 28 June. That is exactly 10 days – but do I need to make it 11, ie leaving on 29 June?
The Flying Nomad
A Many people from the Gulf – the UAE and Bahrain as well as Qatar – are doing something similar to you in order to avoid 11 nights in hotel quarantine at Heathrow airport. That has become trickier since the obvious low-cost and attractive location, Portugal, was moved from green to amber, requiring 10 days of self-isolation on return to the UK.
Iceland is likely to prove an extremely interesting experience, and of course you will be there over midsummer (though I should warn you the weather has been terrible, with unseasonal snow). It is imperative to get your date calculations right, because UK Border Force will check you are working. Some people have, sadly, been discovered to have erred by just a few hours and received a “go to jail card” – paying £1,750 for a quarantine hotel – as well as picking up a fine for failing to book said hotel in advance.
To avoid quarantine you must show you have not been in a red list country at any time during the previous 10 days before your arrival day. To arrive in the UK as you plan on 28 June, you would need to show you have not been in Qatar between 18 and 27 June inclusive.
What matters is not when you arrived in Iceland but when you left Qatar (or any other non-green list nation you passed through en route). If your flight departs on 17 June, fine. But if it is 18 June, then you will need to postpone your Reykjavik-London trip to 29 June, so you can show you have not been in Qatar in any of the previous 10 days, ie between 19 and 28 June.
Yes, it is complicated. And there is no room for error.
Q I have a holiday booked in Mallorca from 22 to 29 June. In that time the traffic light system will be updated. Mallorca may go from amber to green (or at least I’m praying). But is there a legal requirement to purchase your “day two and day eight” test for returning from an amber country before you leave the UK? Or would I be able to just watch the update while on holiday and then immediately purchase the relevant kits? I don’t want to break the law or be unable to depart for holiday or return.
Sharlene B
A I am glad to say there is no need to pre-book your post-arrival tests until shortly before you depart to the UK from wherever you are in the world. I urge anyone to delay booking these tests as late as you comfortably can, in the hope things change to your advantage. As you know, Mallorca and the rest of Spain is on the UK amber list, requiring 10 days of self-isolation on return as well as a test before boarding the plane and two PCR tests after arrival.
It may be that your holiday company has a special deal for these three tests, but even if that’s not the case do nothing yet. These requirements are looking increasingly ridiculous given the low infection rates in the Balearics and the high rates in the UK, and it may be that they are eased. The next possible date for the much-deserving Spanish islands to be “green-listed” is 24 June. The government, though, has shown itself to be uninterested in data. I don’t think you will wake up to find Mallorca moved to the low-risk register, but I hope I am wrong. In any event, it may be that the overly cautious testing rules are eased.
My recommendation: soon after arriving in your destination, identify a good location for the pre-departure test that you will need prior to returning. I cannot see the requirement for this hurdle disappearing. Then just watch and wait. (On my last trip I only started wading through the bureaucracy the night before my flight home.) Go online late on 28 June to book post-arrival tests, as you must do to complete the UK passenger locator form. But a few hours in advance is quite sufficient.
Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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