UK travellers faced ‘rollercoaster’ of 50 changes to travel rules
Holidaymakers faced a “rollercoaster” of 50 changes made to international travel since lockdown, according to a new study.
Covid testing and quarantine rules have been altered 50 times for people arriving in England since March last year, according to analysis from PA news agency.
The latest update to the traffic light travel system is imminent and expected next week.
Turkey could come off the red list while Spain is expected to dodge the red list in the review because of coronavirus cases falling in both destinations.
Many travellers have faced the difficult decision of cutting their holidays short and rushing to get home ahead of the tougher rules.
The green, amber and red list have been updated every three weeks after the system was put in place in May.
Quarantine-free travel corridors have been changing nearly every week between July 2020 and January 2021.
EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren said: “It is no wonder that consumers in the UK are confused.
“Now is the time for government to simplify the rules around travel, make green truly green and restriction free, remove expensive and unnecessary testing requirements for the fully vaccinated travelling from amber countries, and put an end to this constant rollercoaster of changes.”
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, branded the travel rules “absolutely staggering”.
He said: “Every time there’s a change in the traffic lights or the policy itself, that has a huge impact not just on consumers, but also on the travel sector itself, which has had to go through this turmoil over the last 18 months or so.
“It has been one of the worst Government policies ever.”
A government spokesman said: “Our top priority is to protect public health. Decisions on our traffic light system are kept under regular review and are informed by the latest risk assessment from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and wider public health factors.
“We know this is a challenging time for the travel industry which is why we are providing an unprecedented package of support to protect jobs and businesses.”
The latest update to the traffic light travel system is imminent and expected next week.
Turkey could come off the red list while Spain is expected to dodge the red list in the review because of coronavirus cases falling in both destinations.
Many travellers have faced the difficult decision of cutting their holidays short and rushing to get home ahead of the tougher rules.
The green, amber and red list have been updated every three weeks after the system was put in place in May.
Quarantine-free travel corridors have been changing nearly every week between July 2020 and January 2021.
EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren said: “It is no wonder that consumers in the UK are confused.
“Now is the time for government to simplify the rules around travel, make green truly green and restriction free, remove expensive and unnecessary testing requirements for the fully vaccinated travelling from amber countries, and put an end to this constant rollercoaster of changes.”
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, branded the travel rules “absolutely staggering”.
He said: “Every time there’s a change in the traffic lights or the policy itself, that has a huge impact not just on consumers, but also on the travel sector itself, which has had to go through this turmoil over the last 18 months or so.
“It has been one of the worst Government policies ever.”
A government spokesman said: “Our top priority is to protect public health. Decisions on our traffic light system are kept under regular review and are informed by the latest risk assessment from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and wider public health factors.
“We know this is a challenging time for the travel industry which is why we are providing an unprecedented package of support to protect jobs and businesses.”
