Britain’s busiest airport handled just one-10th of pre-pandemic passengers in the first half of 2021.

Heathrow’s latest figures showed only 3.8 million travellers passing through what used to be Europe’s busiest airport, compared with almost 40 million in 2019.

The chief executive of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye said: “While it’s fantastic news that some double-vaccinated passengers will no longer need to quarantine from amber countries, ministers need to extend this policy to US and EU nationals if they want to kickstart the economic recovery.”

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As millions of British travellers consider their options for the summer, The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder has tweeted a warning to them to check passport validity: “Planning an escape? Don’t let an expired passport ruin it. After Brexit, validity rules for trips to the European Union are much more complex than before, not helped by wrong government guidance.

“The European Union regards non-EU travel documents as expiring a maximum of 10 years after issue. A UK passport is valid for travel to the Schengen Area (most of the European Union including France, Spain, Italy and Greece ...) so long as it has three months of validity after your intended day of return.”

A week today, double-jabbed Britons can swerve quarantine when returning from “amber list” destinations.

The move will allow fully vaccinated travellers to holiday across key European destinations, in a boost to the travel industry.

It will come into effect from 4am on 19 July, and applies to England only.

Children under 18 will not have to isolate, he confirmed.

More details are here:

Indonesia on Monday ordered four foreign tourists to leave the resort island of Bali after violating health protocols as the country endures a devastating wave of Covid-19 illnesses and deaths.

A Russian who tested positive for the coronavirus upon her arrival in Bali last Thursday was recaptured that night after she escaped mandatory isolation at an appointed hotel, said Jamaruli Manihuruk, who heads the Bali regional office for the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.

She has been placed in an isolation facility in Bali’s capital, Denpasar, and will be deported as soon as she recovered from the virus, Manihuruk said.

Three others were accused of defying mask mandates in public after being found unmasked in a raid last Thursday in the Kuta tourist area to enforce health protocols and prevent more infections, he said.

The travellers from the United States, Ireland and Russia were placed in a detention room at the immigration office while waiting for their flights to their countries later Monday.

Reporting by agencies

A woman faked being pregnant in order to take an extra piece of luggage onboard a flight.

Ashlin, whose Tiktok username is Miniadvantures, shared a video of the stunt on the social media platform.

It shows her wearing a drawstring bag on her front before pulling on a jumper; the bulge looks like a pregnancy bump.

“When you get a $44 flight but can only bring a backpack,” reads the video caption, alongside a post that says, “My parents raised me better than this.”

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Center Parcs is coming to Gareth Southgate’s childhood home. The leisure operator has announced that its sixth UK “holiday village” will be built on the edge of the West Sussex new town. The England manager was brought up in the Pound Hill area of Crawley, about a mile from the new Center Parcs site.

The 553-acre site, known as Oldhouse Warren, is privately owned.The company’s chief executive, Martin Dalby, said: “It is really exciting to have identified a potential site for another Center Parcs village in the UK.“

“The proposal we will be submitting will create a significant number of jobs and bring major benefits to the local and national economy.”

The economy of Crawley, which includes within its boundaries Gatwick airport has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Crawley has not previously been regarded as a major tourism destination.

Research from Sykes Holiday Cottages shows that almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of Britons want to spend their main summer break in the UK this year, amid concerns about changing travel restrictions.

Data from the annual 2021 Staycation Index from Sykes Holiday Cottages shows that bookings to the platform’s 17,000 properties are up 40 per cent over the summer period this year, compared to 2019.

As for where they’re going: the Peak District, Somerset and East Anglia have seen the biggest uplift this summer, says Sykes. Trips to the Peak District are up 68 per cent on 2019; Somerset bookings have bounced 61 per cent; while East Anglia has seen a 59 per cent increase.

Dozens of trains across Britain have been cancelled today due to staff shortages.

The cause appears to be the so-called “pingdemic”, with essential staff being told to self-isolate because they have been in contact with a coronavirus case.

GWR said: “A shortage of train crew means that an amended Great Western Railway service will be in operation today, Monday 12 July, due to a significant number of staff having to self-isolate following notification from Test and Trace.”

London Victoria is seeing cancellations on links to the Sussex coast and some shorter-distance services.

Multiple Thameslink services through London, connecting Cambridge with Gatwick airport, are cancelled.

International travel may have already tentatively restarted, but it soon looks set to have more widespread take-up for fully vaccinated travellers.

The two hurdles for UK holidaymakers – the outbound and inbound travel restrictions – are to be pared back for those who have received both vaccine doses.

From 19 July, double-jabbed travellers returning to England from a country on the government’s amber list (which comprises the majority of the world’s destinations) no longer need to quarantine on arrival and must simply follow the green list rules: one pre-departure and one post-arrival Covid test.

In addition, other countries are increasingly flinging wide their borders to Brits who have had two jabs. But how do you prove your vaccination status and will other governments accept this?

Here’s what you need to know:

Nine European countries should be moved from the “amber list” to the “green list” of quarantine-free nations, a leading data analyst claims.

Robert Boyle believes that the key destinations of Germany, Italy and Poland qualify for the UK government’s low-risk category, meaning travellers need not self-isolate on arrival in England.

Austria, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Switzerland are also candidates.

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