Travel list update: The 17 changes Brits should watch for THIS WEEK

Posted on : 08/08/2021
Travel list update: The 17 changes Brits should watch for THIS WEEK
Travel 

Grant Shapps discusses changes to ‘green list’

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The fate of many holidays and trips to see loved ones rests on the next travel update. This week’s announcement by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will be hotly awaited by many Brits hoping additions to the green list could mean a last-minute summer break abroad.

The Government has expanded the options for many travellers in a recent decision to drop quarantine requirements for those returning from amber list countries.

With the majority of UK adults now fully vaccinated this means many will be watching updates to the amber list as keenly as those to the green list.

The “amber plus” list, where quarantine is still required even for fully jabbed Brits could be scrapped or continued in tomorrow’s update.

France is currently the only country on this list and experts expect it will be removed from it in the latest update.

But The Guardian has suggested Spain could be added to the “amber plus” list in the next review as Covid infections have risen in the country.

Recent rumours to bring in an amber watchlist appear to have been scrapped but this should be confirmed in the next announcement.

Paul Charles, the chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme: “It would be a disaster to bring in an amber watchlist on top of the amber list, the green list, the red list.”

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the next travel announcement.

The Government reviews the UK’s traffic light travel restrictions every three weeks.

The next update is expected to be made on Thursday, August 5.

Any changes made are expected to come into effect from Monday, August 9.

The last update was made earlier than expected with Grant Shapps breaking the travel news on Wednesday 14 July.

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How drastic will the changes be? Will many countries be added to the green or amber lists?

Freedom Day saw all legal restrictions being lifted in England, and as England shrugs off its internal restrictions the Government has faced mounting pressure from the travel sector to ease international restrictions.

The travel industry has been struggling with strict travel rules and is urging the Government to ease restrictions to help it bounce back post-pandemic.

The Daily Telegraph has suggested that 77 countries were being reviewed by the Joint Biosecurity Centre to be moved onto the green list.

Recent analysis has been far more conservative, according to Mr Charles just 17 countries are expected to make the cut.

The latest data according to Mr Charles suggests the following countries could be moved to the green list:

  • Austria
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Canada
  • Czech Republic
  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia

A further five could be put on the Green watchlist these include:

  • Bhutan
  • French Polynesia
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Saudi Arabia

The travel expert predicts the amber list to be expanded and fewer countries will stay on the red list.

He expects Kenya, Bahrain, India and Pakistan could be removed from the red list.

But Brits hoping to visit Malta, Madeira, Iceland and Israel could be disappointed as Mr Charles forecasts these will be moved from the green list.

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