Last checked at 
* No quarantine for vaccinated EU, U.S. visitors next
week-source
* UK PM says wants U.S. travellers to come to England
"freely"
* BA, easyJet shares rise 4-5%
(Adds govt source, background, share prices)
By Sarah Young and Elizabeth Piper
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson wants U.S. citizens to come to England "freely" and is
discussing a travel corridor with the United States, LBC radio
said on Wednesday, before an expected easing of COVID-19
restrictions for visitors from abroad.
Airline and travel bosses have criticised Britain for
sticking to strict COVID-19 travel rules which they say mean the
country is falling behind the European Union in attracting
tourists, but that looks set to change.
A decision to allow fully vaccinated EU and U.S. travellers
into England without having to isolate is expected shortly and
the new rules could come into force as early as next week, a
government source said on condition of anonymity.
Decisions concerning health are left to the four individual
nations of Britain - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland - and each has the right to set different entry
restrictions during the pandemic.
Any loosening by England - the largest of the four nations
-would be a huge boost for the travel industry after 16 months
of restrictions, which have left most companies under severe
financial strain.
Shares in British Airways and easyJet
jumped over 4%, while Wizz Air was up 5%.
"YOU'LL BE HEARING FROM US"
LBC quoted Johnson as saying he wanted U.S. citizens who are
fully vaccinated to come to England as they did before the
COVID-19 pandemic.
"We want people to be able to come from the U.S. freely in a
way that they normally do. We're talking to them the whole
time," LBC reported Johnson as saying in an interview.
"At the moment we're dealing with a Delta wave, the U.S. is
dealing with a Delta wave, but be assured that we are on it the
whole time. As soon as we have something to say about travel
corridors you'll be hearing from us."
For its part, the United States continues to bar nearly all
non-U.S. citizens who have been in Britain and the European
Union, but the EU now allows U.S. citizens to visit, benefiting
its airlines and tourism industries.
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Heathrow Airport on
Wednesday restated their call for Britain to open up, saying
they had run a successful trial which showed the government that
the industry was able to verify passengers' vaccine credentials.
Detailing the expected rule change, the government source
told Reuters that while the fully-vaccinated travellers would be
exempt from quarantine, they would still have to take two
COVID-19 tests, one before departure and one after arriving.
EasyJet and Wizz Air have both said Britain's ongoing travel
restrictions, which include multiple COVID-19 tests for
arrivals, mean that bookings from Europe are outpacing bookings
from the UK.
Asked about the coming rule change for those visiting from
the EU, Wizz chief executive Jozsef Varadi said on Wednesday: "I
think it will give another boost to the UK."
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, writing by Sarah Young and
Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Kate Holton, William Schomberg and
Joe Bavier)
