The other big change today is for unvaccinated travellers and those who have not yet had both doses of the vaccine – they will have to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival back into the UK, whether they are coming from a red list country or not.
“Today’s changes mean a simpler, more straightforward system. One with less testing and lower costs, allowing more people to travel, see loved ones or conduct business around the world while providing a boost for the travel industry,” said transport secretary Grant Shapps when the changes were announced.
In other travel news, Turkey and Croatia have both removed the requirement for a pre-travel PCR test for double vaccinated passengers arriving from the UK.
Air Seychelles has gone into administration – but the airline will continue to fly to and from the Indian Ocean archipelago due to the nation's bankruptcy protection laws.
According to the Swiss aviation news service, CH-aviation, an administrator, Bernard Pool, has been brought in to devise and deploy a turnaround plan for the carrier.
Air Seychelles was one of several airlines in which Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi, made disastrous investments.
It is now 100 per cent owned by the Seychellois government – but Etihad claims it is owed tens of millions of dollars after its 40 per cent share was was acquired by the nation.
The Seychelles are still on Britain’s “red list,” requiring 11 nights of hotel quarantine for anyone arriving in the UK who has been in the archipelago in the past 10 days.
Many aviation industry observers had written off the Airbus A380 “SuperJumbo” once the coronavirus pandemic took hold worldwide.
A prevailing view was that the aircraft’s economics – with four engines and as many as 600 seats – made it unsuitable for post-Covid operations.
The double-deck jet has been retired from some airlines’ fleets, while other carriers – including British Airways – had flown their A380s to long-term storage locations.
But BA has now taken the industry by surprise by bringing back five of its 12 giant jets next month – initially on short-haul hops to Frankfurt and Madrid.
Many aviation industry observers had written off the Airbus A380 “SuperJumbo” once the coronavirus pandemic took hold worldwide.
A prevailing view was that the aircraft’s economics – with four engines and as many as 600 seats – made it unsuitable for post-Covid operations.
The double-deck jet has been retired from some airlines’ fleets, while other carriers – including British Airways – had flown their A380s to long-term storage locations.
But BA has now taken the industry by surprise by bringing back five of its 12 giant jets next month – initially on short-haul hops to Frankfurt and Madrid.
No Thameslink trains will run through central London between and London St Pancras International overnight.
The line via City Thameslink and Farringdon will be closed unexpectedly between midnight tonight and 5am on Tuesday for emergency repairs.
Thameslink connects two London airports, Gatwick and Luton.
National Rail Enquiries is telling passengers: “Network Rail has to fix a set of faulty points in the tunnels in the area of London St Pancras International.
“They have to do this through the night as any other time will cause large scale disruption to Thameslink services.
“Thameslink is currently working on a plan for their Sutton/Luton, Horsham/Peterborough and Brighton/Bedford services, and will give further details when journey planners have been updated.”
Passengers will be able to use bus or Tube alternatives at no extra cost.
Thameslink will close overnight for emergency repairs
Could the red list be drastically cut down this week?
Some industry sources are reporting that the UK’s red list will be dramatically slashed later this week, with The Telegraph going as far as to say it will drop from 54 countries to just nine.
If true, this would mean that double vaccinated travellers returning from countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa would no longer have to quarantine in a government-mandated hotel on arrival into the UK.
It is worth noting that similar predictions were made ahead of the last travel update on 17 September, with many outlets reporting that the red list would be “slashed” on that date - but in the end, only eight countries were removed from a 62-strong list.
The red list is expected to be reviewed this week, with changes announced on or around Thursday 7 October.
The Independent’s travel expert Simon Calder says: “It’s increasingly clear that the UK’s preposterous 54-nation red list is causing substantial economic and emotional harm while conferring zero public health benefit.
“When ministers began imposing hotel quarantine eight months ago, they were riding a wave of popular support, and have added a couple of dozen additional countries to the utterly disproportionate travel restrictions through panicky responses supported by incoherent data.
“I imagine quite a lot of effort is being expended to find justifications for keeping the likes of South Africa on the red list for much of the year, and for subsequently unlocking them.
“At the last round of changes, when the red list was reduced to ‘only’ 54 countries, most of the eight were crowd-pleasers including Egypt and Turkey. If the government wishes to generate more positive coverage, then you can expect to see Thailand, the Dominican Republic and South Africa all taken out of the mandatory hotel quarantine category.”
Ukranian airline introduces comfy trousers and trainers for female cabin crew
Ukranian low-cost airline SkyUp is offering its female cabin crew comfier trouser-suit uniforms with smart white trainers from next month.
The new outfits replace the traditional pencil skirt and heels, a less practical look still favoured by many airlines.
The carrier posted photos of the new look uniform on Instagram - a slouchy orange trouser suit with bright white trainers.
“Times have changed, women have changed, so in contrast to the conservative classics, heels, red lipstick and a bun, a new, more modern and comfortable image of a ‘champion’ has appeared,” said a SkyUp executive.
She described the new uniform as: “Freedom, natural beauty, individuality, no patterns and sneakers in which everyone would like to fly.”
As the UK’s travel system switches from the convoluted traffic light categories to a more straightforward pair of lists, the outlook for our autumn and winter holidays is hopeful.
Still, there are questions around whether people who haven’t had both jabs will be able to access some destinations, which date the US might open up in November, and which countries are letting UK travellers in - not to mention testing and Covid restrictions in individual destinations once on the ground.
The Independent’s travel expert Simon Calder will be online answering reader questions at 4pm tomorrow. Submit your travel questions in the comments section of this article:
Turkey and Croatia drop pre-travel PCR tests for double jabbed Brits
Turkey and Croatia have both ended the requirement to show a Covid PCR test result on arrival in the countries for fully vaccinated travellers from the UK.
Instead, double jabbed arrivals may show their Covid vaccination records, while those not fully vaccinated can take an antigen test and show the negative result on arrival.
The Turkish Tourism Board said in a statement: “Turkey is ready and excited to welcome back travellers from across the UK this month and beyond.
“With no requirement for PCR tests, and following our removal from the UK government red list, travelling to Turkey couldn’t be easier.”
Another major change to the travel rules today is that the UK now recognises vaccines from 55 countries and territories, including Cyprus, Ireland and the UAE.
On 17 September, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that from October it would increase the number of countries from which travellers’ vaccination certificates will be recognised.
“From 4 October, England will welcome fully vaccinated travellers from a host of new countries – who will be treated like returning fully vaccinated UK travellers – including 17 countries and territories such as Japan and Singapore, following the success of an existing pilot with the US and Europe,” read a DfT statement.
Here is the full list of countries from which vaccine certificates are now recognised:
This morning saw a crucial change to the UK’s travel rules, with the green and amber “traffic light” lists being scrapped in favour of two lists: a red list, and a ROW (rest of the world) list.
But what’s on the red list these days?
Until two weeks ago there were a whopping 62 countries on the list of unsafe-for-travel destinations, but during the most recent change on 22 September, eight countries were removed, including Turkey and Egypt.
There was further confusion for travellers, however, as countries such as the Maldives and Sri Lanka were removed from the red list, but the Foreign Office continued to advise against all but essential travel to those countries.
Find the full list of countries on the red list here:
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