London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 08, 2025

Covid travel tests axed in England and Scotland for fully vaccinated

Covid travel tests axed in England and Scotland for fully vaccinated

People arriving in England or Scotland from abroad will no longer have to take Covid tests if they are fully vaccinated, it has been confirmed.

In a boost for families, the changes will come in from 4am on 11 February, in time for the half-term break.

Rules have also been eased for unvaccinated travellers, who will no longer have to take a day eight test or self isolate.

However, they will still need pre-departure and day two tests.

And everyone arriving in England and Scotland, regardless of vaccination status, will need to fill in a passenger locator form - although these will be made "easier" to complete, said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Wales and Northern Ireland have not yet said whether they will change their testing rules, although they are expected to follow suit.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Shapps said the move would save families about £100 on visits abroad, as well as boost the beleaguered travel industry.

"Today I can confirm that our international travel regime will now be liberalised as part our efforts to ensure that 2022 is the year in which restrictions on travel, on lockdowns and limits on people's lives are firmly placed in the past," he said.

"From 4am on February 11, and in time for the half-term break, eligible fully-vaccinated passengers arriving in the UK will no longer have to take a post-arrival lateral flow test.

"That means that after months of pre-departure testing, post-arrival testing, self-isolation, additional expense, all that fully vaccinated people will now have to do, when they travel to the UK, is to verify their status via a passenger locator form."

Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said the measures were "extremely welcome" for the tourism and aviation sectors.

But he said "further surveillance" would be needed across all UK nations to catch variants if they emerged.

'It's one less thing to worry about'

Dan from Surrey is planning to travel to Italy on a skiing trip with his son in the half term holiday.

"I was geared up for having to do all the tests and the forms that I needed to," he says, adding that today's news was "a welcome change".

"It's one less thing to worry about," he says. "It's a bit less cost, but also it's a bit less stress. So overall, hopefully we can focus on having a nice holiday instead of worrying about the paperwork."

Dan and his family have only travelled abroad once since the pandemic started, but he hopes that as the rules ease, planning holidays will become more straightforward.

"I'm quite happy there are fewer barriers, it makes me feel more confident going away from that point of view," he says. However, safety remains his number one priority: "If a new variant came along or something changed and the rules had to be revisited, I for one would understand that."

Mr Shapps also confirmed that from 3 February, 12 to 15-year-olds in England will be able to prove their vaccination status via the digital NHS pass for international outbound travel.

It comes after families have struggled to prove their children's vaccination status when trying to enter countries including Spain, Italy and France.

Mr Shapps also told MPs the UK is set to recognise vaccine certificates from 16 further nations, including countries like China and Mexico.

This will take the total number of recognised countries and territories to 180.

Boost for travel sector


The moves were welcomed by the travel and tourism industry, which has been one of the sectors hit hardest by coronavirus lockdown measures.

Airline Virgin Atlantic said: "The removal of all testing for vaccinated passengers is the final step in moving towards frictionless air travel, allowing passengers to reconnect with loved ones and business colleagues.

"It restores customer confidence and demand will be boosted in a critical booking window for the travel industry."

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said the airline would "now look ahead to what we believe will be a strong summer".


He said: "It is clear travel restrictions did not materially slow the spread of Omicron in the UK and so it is important that there are no more knee jerk reactions to future variants."

However, the Laboratory and Testing Industry Organisation, the trade body for the industry, warned rules had been lifted too quickly.

Its chairman Tom Watson said: "We have consistently backed relaxing unnecessary restrictions, but the only way that our country can avoid hard lockdowns is by maintaining a robust Covid testing regime to quickly discover new variants."

Currently, fully vaccinated passengers, who have had two doses (or one dose of the Janssen vaccine), and under-18s no longer need a pre-departure test two days before travelling to the UK.

However, within 48 hours of arrival, everyone aged five and over - or 11 and over in Scotland - must take a lateral flow test (LFT), or a more expensive PCR test.

If they take an LFT and it is positive, they must self-isolate and take an NHS PCR test to confirm the result.

Vaccinated travellers also have to fill in and submit an online passenger locator form no more than 48 hours before arriving, even if they are just passing through the UK.

But Mr Shapps said the form, which had been "complex and difficult to navigate", would now be made simpler and travellers would have an extra day to fill it in.

Earlier in January, the government scrapped the need for fully vaccinated travellers coming to England to take a Covid test before they travel.

However, arrivals who are not fully vaccinated must take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival PCR tests, which are more expensive than the lateral flow version.

They must also self-isolate for 10 days.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
×