UK travel: 77 countries could be considered for green list
Changes will be announced next week
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Your support makes all the difference.Some 77 countries are reportedly under consideration for the UK’s green list for international travel.
The destinations are currently under review by the Joint Biosecurity Centre, before the next update to the government’s traffic light lists is announced next week, reports the Daily Telegraph.
However, although a broad selection of countries is being considered for a promotion to green, many of these won’t make the grade, warned government sources.
Green list countries are those with the lightest restrictions for returning travellers; arrivals entering the UK can forgo quarantine, regardless of vaccination status, and must take two Covid tests.
The entry requirements are now the same for amber list arrivals – but only if they are British nationals who’ve had both Covid jabs administered in the UK at least 14 days prior. Unvaccinated accompanying under-18s are also eligible for these lighter restrictions.
The Department for Transport is expected to make its next update to the lists on or around 4 August.
Travel industry experts have tentatively forecast that around 10 destinations could go green.
Former British Airways strategist Robert Boyle has predicted the following upgrades: Austria, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Bhutan and Vietnam.
Consultant and founder of the PC Agency, Paul Charles, has named Austria, Bosnia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia and Slovenia as contenders.
Meanwhile, the government is also mulling dropping quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers from the US and amber-graded EU countries.
Movement between the US and the UK has largely been frozen since March 2020, and yesterday the White House confirmed that the travel ban would remain over fears of the Delta variant – much to the dismay of British ministers and the travel industry.
However, in more positive news, ministers could green light plans this week for Americans to present vaccine cards in lieu of a consistent digital solution to avoid quarantine on entry to the UK, reports The Times.
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