London – The Balearic Islands, Malta, Madeira and Barbados are among the places being added to the United Kingdom’s (UK) green travel list, the transport secretary has said.
People entering the UK from 16 places will not have to quarantine from June 30, Grant Shapps confirmed.
He also said the government intended to allow quarantine-free travel from amber list countries for people who were fully vaccinated “later in the summer”.
Six destinations have also been added to the government’s red list.
However, the prospect of European holidays could face another hurdle after German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested all European Union countries should make British travellers quarantine on arrival to slow the spread of the Delta variant.
The destinations added to the green list from 4 a.m. BST on June 30 are:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- The Balearic Islands (which include Ibiza, Menorca, Majorca and Formentera)
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- British Antarctic Territory
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Madeira
- Malta
- Montserrat
- Pitcairn Islands
- Turks and Caicos Islands
The places added to the red lists for the same time are:
- Dominican Republic
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Mongolia
- Tunisia
- Uganda
Those travelling to the UK from these countries will need to quarantine in a hotel for ten days.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was intended that later in the summer arrivals who were fully vaccinated would not have to quarantine when travelling from amber list countries.
The DfT said this change was expected to take place in phases, starting with UK residents.
The department also said it intended to remove the guidance that people should not travel to amber countries, and it would take clinical advice on whether regular testing could provide a safe alternative to quarantine for children accompanied by vaccinated adults.
“Further detail will be set out next month including the rules which will apply to children and those unable to be vaccinated, how we will operationalise this approach at the border, and the dates on which these changes will come into effect,” a spokesman said.
Shapps added: “We’re moving forward with efforts to safely reopen international travel this summer, and thanks to the success of our vaccination programme, we’re now able to consider removing the quarantine period for fully-vaccinated UK arrivals from amber countries – showing a real sign of progress.
“It’s right that we continue with this cautious approach, to protect public health and the vaccine rollout as our top priority, while ensuring that our route out of the international travel restrictions is sustainable.”
‘Cannot afford another missed summer’
The travel industry welcomed the additions to the green list, but urged the government to do more to open up travel.
Sean Doyle, chief executive officer of British Airways said: “We cannot afford another missed summer.
There are jobs at stake, Britons separated from family members and we cannot afford to allow the success of our vaccine programme to be wasted.”
He added that plans to allow vaccinated people to travel more freely this summer were “critical” and urged the government to work with the aviation industry to set this up.
Matthew Fell, the Confederation of British Industry’s chief UK policy director, said the additions to the green list “won’t be enough to salvage the summer season for the international travel sector”.
He said: “The UK’s successful vaccine rollout means we should be in the vanguard of safely restarting international travel. Other countries are already pressing ahead with enabling travel for the fully vaccinated.” (BBC)
