England scraps quarantine for fully vaccinated EU, US visitors

Fully vaccinated people from the US and the EU will be allowed to travel to England in a boost for travel industry.

The new rule applies to England but is widely expected to be followed by the rest of the UK shortly [Henry Nicholls/Reuters]

England will allow fully vaccinated visitors from the European Union and United States to arrive without needing to quarantine from next week, in a huge and long-awaited boost for airlines and travel companies.

“We’re helping reunite people living in the US and European countries with their family and friends,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted. The policy will come into force from 4:00am (0300 GMT) on August 2.

The UK’s travel industry has criticised the government for being too slow to open up, saying it has squandered its lead in the global vaccine rollout and given the EU a headstart in attracting tourists.

Travellers with US- and EU-approved vaccines will not have to quarantine. Lifting the same requirement for fully vaccinated Britons returning from medium-risk countries in July helped to kick-start a travel recovery.

The new rule applies to England but is widely expected to be followed by the rest of the UK shortly. The government said international cruise sailings could also restart from England.

Airlines, such as British Airways, and the UK’s biggest airport Heathrow, weighed down by cumulative pandemic losses of $4bn, welcomed the move but said more was needed if the industry was to recover from the collapse in demand.

Top of the list is a reopening of the UK-US travel corridor which is still affected by a ban on all non-US citizens who have been in the UK.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told LBC Radio earlier on Wednesday that he wanted US citizens to come to England “freely” and was discussing making changes.

Travellers also still have to take an expensive COVID-19 test before departure and shortly after arrival in England.

BA Chief Executive Sean Doyle said the company’s trials had proved it could check travellers for vaccination status quickly and safely.

“This step will allow us to reunite loved ones and get Global Britain back in business, giving the economy the vital boost it so badly needs,” he said in a statement.

The move comes with a rise in COVID cases in the UK for the first time in seven days as the UK finds itself in another coronavirus wave due to the Delta variant, which spreads faster than the previous common variant.

The UK reported 27,734 confirmed cases on Wednesday, bringing an end to the seven-day drop in cases, according to British media.

Quarantine rules for travellers from France

Changing the quarantine rules for the United States and the EU will ease access to some of the UK’s biggest markets for visitor volumes. It will also help companies drum up business after the severe financial strain of 16 months of pandemic-linked restrictions.

Shares in British Airways were up three percent while easyJet rose four percent and Wizz Air jumped seven percent.

Airlines make nearly all their profits during the summer season and easyJet had said this month that it was directing more flights to Europe where there is more demand.

“It’s the right thing, it should be done, but like I said it is a little bit too late,” easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren told LBC.

The UK government has said it was keeping quarantine rules for travellers from France because of the presence of the Beta variant there, but French officials say the bulk of cases comes from the overseas island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

The UK will review the status of travellers from France at the end of next week. French officials have complained about British travel restrictions for France since a last-minute decision on July 19 to keep them.

A politician from President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party called Wednesday’s decision “absurd”.

“Quarantine for the fully vaccinated from Lille but not Brussels; Paris but not Miami; Annecy but not Geneva; Montpellier but not Barcelona,” Alexandre Holroyd wrote, whose constituents include French people living in the UK.

“Vaccines work: give those who are protected against #covid their freedom back,” he tweeted, adding the hashtag #sciencenotpolitics.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies