Public health has always been at the heart of our international travel policy – and with more than eight in ten adults fully vaccinated in the UK, we are now able to introduce an updated system. That is why the Government has today announced a simpler, more straightforward approach for international travel – scrapping costly pre-departure and PCR tests for fully vaccinated passengers, and moving away from the ‘traffic light system’ towards an easier to understand travel list.

These changes will allow more people to travel, see loved ones, and conduct business around the world – while also providing a boost for the travel sector as we build back better from the pandemic.

The Government is doing this by:

• Creating a simplified system for international travel by ending the traffic light system, providing greater stability for industry and passengers. From 4 October, we will no longer use a traffic light system of red, amber or green – but instead have a ‘red list’ of countries that are most at risk and people should not travel to, and the ‘rest of the world’, which will be a merger of the green and amber country lists.
• Reducing testing requirements for eligible fully vaccinated travellers, lowering costs and making it easier to travel. From 4 October, fully vaccinated passengers travelling from non-red list countries into England will no longer be required to take a pre-departure test before arrival – and later in October, will only have to take a day 2 lateral flow test, instead of a more costly PCR test. All passengers will still be required to fill in a Passenger Locator Form ahead of travel.
  • Anyone testing positive will need to isolate and take a confirmatory PCR test, at no additional cost to the traveller, which would be genomically sequenced to help identify new variants.
• Retaining testing measures for non-vaccinated travellers, stopping the spread of the virus in the UK. Passengers arriving from non-red list countries who are not fully vaccinated will have to take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and 8 PCR test, and self-isolate for ten days upon their return – with Test to Release remaining an option if they wish to shorten their isolation period. For passengers arriving from red list countries – the managed 10-day quarantine will continue, and Test to Release will not be an option.
• Extending our inbound vaccination policy to more countries, allowing people to travel safely into the UK. In addition to the EU and US, from 4 October we will also permit entry to people who have been fully vaccinated in 17 more countries and territories – including Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
• Conducting the final regular traffic light review before the switch to the new two-tiered system, several additional countries and territories will move off the red list – Turkey, Pakistan, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya. Changes will come into effect at 4am Wednesday 22 September.
• From late October, we will also be making changes to allow passengers who change flights or international trains during their journey to follow the measures associated to their country of departure, rather than any countries they have transited through as part of their journey.

As part of the third Global Travel Taskforce checkpoint review, today’s update reiterates the Government’s focus on protecting its borders from the most dangerous variants and ensures continuity for industry and passengers the remainder of the year. We will look to set out a further review for the UK’s international travel policy early in the new year to provide further certainty for the spring and summer 2022 seasons.

These simplified travel measures mean that fully vaccinated passengers can make the most of the protection they have, whilst also retaining robust measures so that our borders are protected. For any more information on the new system for international travel, including comments from the Transport and Health and Social Care Secretaries, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-system-for-international-travel