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* Transport secretary says will simplify travel, cut costs
* Expensive testing could be scrapped for fully vaccinated
* Destinations may be ranked high or low risk
* Travel shares rise 3%-11%
(Recasts with transport secretary tweet)
By Sarah Young and Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The British government will set
out measures to boost international travel later on Friday,
helping airlines and holiday companies which say they will not
survive another winter of onerous rules and red tape.
While Europe has relaxed travel restrictions for the fully
vaccinated, expensive COVID-19 testing requirements remain in
place for fully vaccinated arrivals into Britain, holding back a
travel recovery as the tougher winter period nears.
"I'll set out measures to simplify international travel
later today in order to reduce costs, take advantage of higher
levels of vaccination, and keep us all safe," Transport
Secretary Grant Shapps said on Twitter.
Shapps sets policy for England, with Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland in charge of their own rules.
Travel shares, which were already trading higher on hopes of
a rule change, jumped further. British Airways-owner IAG
was up 6%, TUI traded up 5%, easyJet was up 3%,
Jet2 6% higher and On the Beach up 11%.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted earlier in the week
that a change was likely, and there have been reports that
popular destination Turkey may be opened up for British
travellers again.
Airlines and travel companies say far-reaching changes are
needed or more job losses will follow the 100,000 already lost.
"There are hundreds of businesses out there who will not
survive this winter unless changes are made," TUI UK
managing director Andrew Flintham told Sky News on Friday.
The industry, already on its knees after 18 months of
restrictions, is facing a cliff edge as the government's
furlough scheme ends later this month with winter approaching,
when fewer people travel and businesses tend to make a loss.
COSTLY TEST RULES SCRAPPED
Shapps's simplification plan suggests that the so-called
traffic light system which ranks destinations as green, amber
and red, could go.
By reducing costs he could mean that the government will
remove the requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to take a
lateral flow test before departing their destination and a
costly PCR test on their return into Britain, which can add
hundreds of pounds per person to a trip.
Media reports have said that destinations will simply be
ranked low or high risk, instead of red, amber and green and
that many countries, including Turkey, will be removed from the
high risk red list which currently includes 62 destinations.
Data shows that Britain's travel recovery is lagging. UK
flights were down 39% compared to pre-pandemic levels for the
two weeks to early Sept. 6, while France, Spain and Italy were
down between 24-28%, according to Eurocontrol.
Quarantine hotels, where people spend 11 nights in a
designated facility at a cost of more than 2,000 pounds, are
expected to remain in place for arrivals from high risk
countries.
($1 = 0.7247 pounds)
(Reporting by Costas Pitas, Guy Faulconbridge and Sarah Young,
Editing by Angus MacSwan and Philippa Fletcher)
