Traffic light system to end as simplified travel rules come into force
New rules making travel to the UK "easier and cheaper" come into force at 4am on Monday.
The UK'S traffic light system involving green, amber and red lists will be scrapped, with locations categorised as either on the red list or not.
People arriving from a red tier destination such as Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines or South Africa will still be required to spend 11 nights at a quarantine hotel costing £2,285 for solo travellers.
Fully vaccinated residents – and unvaccinated under 18s – from more than 50 countries and territories can now enter the UK without needing to complete a pre-departure lateral flow test, take a day-eight post-arrival PCR test costing around £65, or self-isolate at home.
Under 11s were already exempt from pre-departure testing.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "We are acceleratingtowardsafuturewheretravel continues to reopen safely andremainsopenforgood,and today's rule changes are good news for families, businesses and the travel sector.
"Our priority remains to protect public health but, with more than eight in ten people now fully vaccinated, we are able to take these steps to lower the cost of testing and help the sector to continue its recovery."
The easing of the quarantine and testing regulations – announced last month – has been welcomed by the travel sector.
Airlines and tour operators have been hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic, and have accused the Government of being too slow to relax and simplify the rules for international travel.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, a trade body representing UK carriers, said: "Things are moving in the right direction and the removal of these restrictions will make it easier and cheaper for people to travel.
"There is still much to do though. This is not job done, and ministers need to keep in mind that we remain an outlier on arrivals testing for vaccinated passengers.”
No date has been set for when fully vaccinated travellers arriving in England will be able to use a cheaper lateral flow test rather than a PCR version. The Department for Transport said the Government "aims to have it in place for when people return from half-term breaks".