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By Sarah Young
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Britain will scrap quarantine for
fully-vaccinated travellers returning to England and Scotland
from France, rowing back on a rule that had infuriated French
politicians and thrown millions of holidays into confusion.
Britain has double vaccinated a higher proportion of its
population against COVID-19 than most other countries, but a
maze of rules has prevented travel to many countries, devasting
the travel industry.
Britain's transport minister, Grant Shapps, said the easing
of the rules would ease pressure on the struggling travel
industry and give sun seekers a chance to meet up with friends
and family.
England and Scotland also eased rules for Austria, Germany,
Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway, though it upped
the price for obligatory quarantine hotel stays for red list
countries by 60% to 2,285 pounds ($3,173) per adult.
"While we must continue to be cautious, today's changes
reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the
globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling
public," Shapps said in a statement.
Scotland is also easing the rules.
The United Kingdon operates a "traffic light" system for
international travel, with low-risk countries rated green for
quarantine-free travel, medium risk countries rated amber, and
red countries requiring arrivals to spend 10 days in isolation
in a hotel.
Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and
Norway will all be added to England's green list for low-risk
travel from Aug. 8, the government said, meaning that arrivals
into England from those places do not have to self-isolate
whether they are fully vaccinated or not.
'GO FURTHER'
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's travel regulations have
angered some of Britain's European allies, frustrated millions
of sun-seeking Britons and brought dire warnings from airports,
airlines and tour companies.
British Airways welcomed the easing of the rules
but said the government had to go further.
"We welcome more low-risk countries being added to the green
list but urge the government to go further, end uncertainty and
allow people to benefit from our world-leading vaccination
programme," said Sean Doyle, the airline's chairman and CEO.
"The UK's economic recovery is reliant on a thriving travel
sector and right now we're lagging behind Europe, with our more
stringent testing requirements and a red list significantly
broader than our European peers."
The airline lobby group, Airlines UK, said the government's
move was too late to save the crucial summer holiday season.
"This is another missed opportunity and with the summer
season nearing its conclusion means international travel has not
had anything like the reopening it was hoping for," it said.
"The UK continues to open up far slower than the rest of
Europe."
The change to the status of France, the second most popular
destination for Britons before the pandemic, means it rejoins
the amber list. The government said it made the change because
the prevalence of the Beta variant of COVID-19 there had now
fallen.
France had been on the amber list but became the only "amber
plus" country in mid-July, meaning that with just two days
notice even fully vaccinated people still had to quarantine on
their return, prompting an outcry from the travel industry and
French politicians.
There had been worries that Spain, the top destination for
Britons, would be added to the "amber plus" list in this latest
review, but the government instead advised arrivals from there
to take a PCR test pre-departure, rather than a cheaper lateral
flow test, where possible.
"UK clinicians and scientists will remain in close contact
with their counterparts in Spain to keep abreast of the latest
data and picture of cases in Spain," the government said.
($1 = 0.7201 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Guy
Faulconbridge)
