The government is expected to abandon air bridges in favour of establishing a list of countries with quarantine exemptions for British holidaymakers.
The list, which will be published in the coming days, will lift the ban on non-essential travel to most EU destinations, in addition to Bermuda, Gibraltar, Turkey, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.
The 75 countries on the list have been judged to be sufficiently low risk to allow Brits to go abroad. This means that from Monday those who travel to countries on the list will no longer have to quarantine for a fortnight upon their return. However, it is believed that some countries including Australia and New Zealand will maintain border controls until the end of the year.
Greece, one of the 75 countries on the list, has suspended flights from the UK until 15 July at the earliest due to the UK’s coronavirus rate.
Russia, Brazil and the USA are still on the “red” list for travel from the UK, and the ban on non-essential travel will continue.
The change in policy has been welcomed by the travel industry and has been seen as an admission that air bridges were not feasible.
Spokesperson for Quash Quarantine campaign group, a collective of some 500 travel and hospitality businesses, Paul Charles said that: “We have said all along that air bridges were unsustainable in Europe because you can’t restrict people travelling in the EU or Schengen.
“It’s sensible and logical and I wish we could have had it earlier. It begs the question as to why have we gone round in circles.”
The announcement was expected to be made earlier this week; however, it is believed that objections from the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has resulted the delay.
