As we usher in the month of May, the month when the Government
intends to reopen international travel, there are still have no
details on the rules which will apply to countries of travel.
The Transport Committee recommended a deadline of 1 May in its
most recent report, Safe return of international travel?
setting out an analysis of the Government’s Global Travel
Taskforce Report.
The Global Travel Taskforce introduced a three-tier “traffic
light” system to indicate how safe a country is for travel and
the rules which would apply to each country. In its April report,
the Committee urged the Government to populate the traffic-light
framework and called on ministers to explain the criteria and
mechanism by which countries will move between the risk
categories on the “Green Watchlist.”
The Committee warned that clear rules and certainty would be
essential to reboot the aviation and tourism sectors facing
another summer without international travel.
Chair of the Transport Committee, , said:
“There are just 16 days until international travel is expected to
resume on 17 May. Incredibly, passengers and industry are still
in the dark about which countries they can visit and the
requirements to do so. The UK’s vaccination programme has seen
99% of the mortality risk vaccinated, with 34 million people
receiving their first dose, and over 13 million having received
two.
“Having expected the rules to be published in April, the
Transport Committee urged the Government to deliver to a 1 May
deadline to populate the traffic-light framework with destination
countries. This is the bare minimum of planning that the industry
and consumers need to begin any sort of preparations for a
restart of international travel on 17 May. Instead, uncertainty
has been prolonged. This uncertainty could cost people their
jobs.
“How can it be right that countries with slower vaccination
roll-outs are safely reopening to international travellers while
the UK stays static? The Government is in danger of squandering
the opportunity to take advantage of the UK’s world-leading
‘vaccine dividend’ as countries across the globe begin to open up
for international travel.”
