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17th Sep 2021

Travel traffic light system scrapped and changes made to Covid testing for fully jabbed

Kieran Galpin

Good news for holidaymarkers!

The travel traffic light system will be scrapped and replaced with a red list only from October 4, it was announced on Friday.

There will no longer be an amber list, so anywhere not on the red list will be considered free to travel to.

Travellers will also no longer have to take pre-departure tests when travelling from within the UK.

From the end of October, fully vaccinated travellers from non-red list countries will be permitted to replace PCR tests with cheaper lateral flow tests.

And from 4am on September 22, eight countries will be removed from the red list. These include: Turkey, Pakistan, The Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh, and Kenya.

This new system is expected to remain in place until at least the new year.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes will mean a  “simpler, more straightforward system” 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”.

He added: “Public health has always been at the heart of our international travel policy and with over 44 million people fully vaccinated in the UK, we are now able to introduce a proportionate updated structure that reflects the new landscape.”

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Topics:

Air Travel,Covid