Time for travelers to pack their bags as they complete their travel bucket list of the UK. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the statement that the pre-departure test “discourages many from traveling for fear of being trapped overseas and incurring significant extra expense”. With a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and Omicron being the dominant variant, many airlines argued that passenger testing had no effect on slowing down or controlling the virus spread and is negatively affecting the airline sector’s recovery.
Mr. Johnson along with his cabinet decided on the new travel rules and regulations starting from 7th January 2022. The new rules are gladly accepted by the major firms for both domestic and international travel. With ease in restrictions and tests scraped off, this is the peak time for people to travel to and from the UK with ease.
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The Previous Travel Rules of The UK
- Travelers over the age of 12, have to show negative test results of a PCR or lateral flow test. This must be taken not more than two days before their departure from the home nation. They have to undertake a compulsory PCR test on the second day of their arrival in the UK.
- The international travelers had to take two tests post-arrival; one on the second day and one on the 8th day of their arrival and submit the negative test reports to the concerned authorities.
- They also had to undergo 10-day self-isolation while waiting for their results.
These rules were imposed when the Delta variant of COVID-19 was predominant in the UK but with the coming of the Omicron variant, these were not compatible and showed the desired results. But the airlines’ industry was taking hits due to these rules and raised this issue with the government to make required changes to the travel guidelines and make international travel easier.
The new set of instructions is happily welcomed by the airlines as well as travelers planning their trips to England.
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The New Before Departure and Post Arrival Travel Rules
- 7th January 2022 – Fully vaccinated and under-18 travelers are no longer required to take a test and submit their report before departure. On arrival, they are required to take a PCR test but the 10-day self-isolation rules are dissolved.
- 9th January 2022 – Passengers have to take a private lateral flow test instead of the PCR test on day two of their arrival. Free NHS tests are not allowed.
- Unvaccinated travelers are allowed to enter the UK but with the previous conditions – pre-departure test, PCR tests on the second & eighth day of their arrival, and 10 days self-isolation.
There are talks of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to permanently revoke the emergency coronavirus laws with the UK’s situation improving. The major nations like the USA, Canada, Australia, and others can also take such measures where they keep the spread of the coronavirus in check while gradually slowing its growth and giving a boost to the number of travelers entering their nation with ease in travel restrictions.
The awareness spread among people by the governments has made them self-conscious of taking the preventive measures against virus’s spread and if the governments of popular tourist hotspots bring ease in their guidelines, this will serve as the starting line for the recovery of many sectors like tourism, airlines, and others.
The action of the UK government is well appreciated by many airlines as they consider it a silver lining that will boost the confidence of tourists traveling internationally. Tripbeam brings you travel deals online for your foreign trips and adventures as more and more countries are likely to relax their travel instructions and act as hosts to a larger number of people.
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