The government’s implausibly long red list could be much reduced when the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, reveals some large-scale changes to Europe’s most onerous travel restrictions.
At present the UK has the highest infection rates of any major country in Europe, yet it also imposes the strictest rules on arrivals.
As the days tick down to the end of the airlines’ summer season in late October, travel companies are desperate for a boost to bookings.
An announcement from the DfT was originally expected on Wednesday or Thursday, but Downing Street sources have now confirmed that a statement is expected on Friday 17 September.
Meanwhile, Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy has said that Sage – the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – has “too much influence in government”.
Speaking at Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel conference yesterday, Heapy said of the travel rules change that it looks like “whatever we were expecting will be watered down”.
In other news, the troubled cross-Channel train operator, Eurostar, has delayed the restart of passenger services at its two stations in Kent by a year.
Passengers hoping to join trains to Paris and Brussels at Ebbsfleet or Ashford will now be waiting until at least 2023.
In the latest Independent Travel “Ask Me Anything,” the main line of questioning was about the chances of key countries escaping from the red list.
Readers have booked trips to Turkey and the Maldives, both of which are tipped to be taken out of the highest-risk category – from which arrivals to the UK must quarantine for 11 nights. But Mexico may not be so lucky.
Also under discussion: the rules for accessing the US (via a third country, to “launder” UK status), and when the British government might get round to recognising vaccinations administered outside Europe and the US.
One of the many mysteries that travellers and the industry want to know is: when will the latest changes take effect?
It is traditional for four or five days’ notice to be given of changes – particularly to allow travellers in new red list locations time to return home without incurring hotel quarantine. That would suggest 4am (the preferred time) on Tuesday or Wednesday, 21 or 22 September.
But given the scale of the changes, it may be that the chosen date is as late as the weekend of Friday 1 to Monday 4 October.
Note that the rule that applies is the status of the country at the moment you arrive back in the UK. So if Turkey does get taken off the red list, you could head there tomorrow for a week and not need to go into hotel quarantine on your return to the UK.
What’s another year? Eurostar postpones reopening of Kent services until 2023 at the earliest
The troubled cross-Channel train operator, Eurostar, has delayed the restart of passenger services at its two stations in Kent.
Shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began, Eurostar eliminated its stops at Ebbsfleet, close to the M25, and Ashford in east Kent.
The firm, which runs from London St Pancras to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, had said services would be restored in 2022.
But a Eurostar spokesperson has told The Independent: “We can confirm that our Kent stations will remain closed throughout 2022.
“As the business starts its recovery, we need to focus on core destinations where demand is highest.
“We will review the decision towards the end of next year.”
Government travel restrictions on both sides of the Channel have devastated the business, which is currently running a much-reduced service on its core network.
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kenya: likely contenders to shed red list status
As briefings from government suggest that the UK’s implausibly long “red list” is finally to be culled, a leading analyst has given The Independent his predictions for the most likely winners among popular countries.
Robert Boyle, the former British Airways director who now runs Gridpoint Consulting, believes that Pakistan is a prime contender. It has no variants besides the dominant Delta; does some genomic sequencing and has low reported cases. In addition, he ventures, “the UK government wants help with Afghanistan”.
Bangladesh and Kenya are next in line, with no variants except Delta, some sequencing and low reported cases.
The Maldives, he says, would also be popular, while South Africa and Sri Lanka are borderline.
Mr Boyle gives little hope of Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Egypt or Thailand leaving the red list.
At present 62 nations are in the UK’s highest risk category. Germany’s red list is currently empty.
Which countries could move from the red list tomorrow?
Along with an easing of the testing regime for fully vaccinated travellers to the UK, it is likely that some countries will be taken off the “red list” – which requires hotel quarantine for all arrivals.
At present, 62 countries are in the highest risk category. The government has said the criteria for inclusion on the red list are: “Known variants of concern, known high-risk variants under investigation or as a result of very high in-country or territory prevalence of Covid-19.”
But which will stay on the high-risk list? The Independent asked two prominent data analysts for their steer on the most and least likely to move.
Gatwick Airport has reduced the prices of both lateral flow and PCR “fit to fly” tests at its two onsite ExpressTest testing centres.
The price of the lateral flow tests has been reduced by £2, to £33, and the cost of PCR tests has dropped £10 to £59, reports TravelWeekly.
There are two ExpressTest centres at the Sussex airport: a drive-in option located within its Perimeter Road South car park and a walk-in centre in the North Terminal.
Chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick Airport recognises that the cost of PCR tests is prohibitive and acts as barrier preventing larger numbers from booking international travel.
“We are therefore pleased to be able to offer passengers a more cost-effective solution, conveniently located at the airport, to help people get away on a much-needed holiday, to visit loved ones abroad or travel for business.”
Battersea Power Station now on the map as countdown to tube extension continues
New maps are being installed on the London Underground to show the first new stations on the Northern Line for 80 years.
The South London extension from Kennington to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station is due to open on Monday 20 September. The first train will run from Battersea Power Station at 5.28am.
Work on the two-mile extension began in 2015. Besides making commuting easier, the delayed £1.2bn project will also make the rejuvenated area around the power station more accessible to Londoners and tourists.
The extension ends a tantalising mile short of Victoria station, which would have provided a useful link between one of the best-connected hubs on the Underground and the Kennington area.
The project, though, is built with a possible further extension to Clapham Junction – the busiest railway station in the UK, in terms of trains passing through.
Sources have told The Independent that the much-anticipated update to travel rules will now be announced tomorrow, Friday 17 September.
“All the indications are that a more wide-ranging announcement will be made by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, on Friday,” writes Simon Calder.
“Briefings indicate that the current complicated system of five separate traffic light categories (including the green watchlist and “super green” rules for Ireland) is likely to be reduced to just three. At one end of the spectrum, Ireland is expected to retain its special “super green” status, with no restrictions on travel to the UK. At the other extreme, a red list of high-risk locations will continue.
“In between, all the other countries will be treated the same. The new category, for which the name ‘gramber’ has unfortunately been suggested, would cover almost everywhere in Europe, including our most popular destinations: Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and Greece.”
Lancashire to get UK’s second Eden Project botanical gardens
Planning has been submitted for a second Eden Project botanical gardens in the UK - this time on the Lancashire coast.
Proposed for the seaside resort of Morecambe, the site would include outdoor gardens, indoor and outdoor restaurants, a tidal pool and the distinctive biodomes associated with the Cornwall original.
The team behind the southwest’s award-winning Eden Project has achieved a major milestone with the submission of a planning application to Lancaster City Council for the £125m project.
What will change at the next travel update? Simon Calder gives his predictions
With a travel rules update expected either today or tomorrow, rumours, questions and leaks have been flying for days about what the major changes to the system may be.
The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder has gathered and investigated these, and today has shared his predictions for what is likely to change, and what may replace the “traffic light” lists and PCR testing currently in place.
“Briefings indicate that the current complicated system of five separate traffic light categories (including the green watchlist and “super green” rules for Ireland) is likely to be reduced to just three.
“At one end of the spectrum, Ireland is expected to retain its special “super green” status, with no restrictions on travel to the UK. At the other extreme, a red list of high-risk locations will continue,” says Calder.
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