Passenger Locator Forms to be Removed on 18th

The fantastic news that we’ve all been waiting on has finally come. On Monday the 14th of March, Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, announced that passenger locator forms, along with all other travel restrictions, will be removed for arrivals this week.  

From 4 am on Friday the 18th of March, it has been officially confirmed by the government, that all entry rules for arrivals in the UK have been scrapped. This means all entry rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers alike.  

Shapps announced this change initially on Twitter, he said, “All remaining COVID travel measures, including the Passenger Locator Form and tests for all arrivals, will be stood down from travel to the UK from 4 am on 18 March. 

“These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout and mean greater freedom in time for Easter.” 

Shapps made a further statement later on Monday the 14th, “I said we wouldn’t keep travel measures in place for any longer than necessary, which we’re delivering on today – providing more welcome news and greater freedom for travellers ahead of the Easter holidays. 

“I look forward to continuing to work with the travel sector and partners around the world to keep international travel moving.” 

It was clarified that all monitored hotel quarantine setups will be closed down at the end of March following this change in rules. This means that the UK will be one of the first nations to remove all travel restrictions for travellers.  

Unvaccinated travellers will no longer be required to take pre-departure and day-2 tests and all travellers will be able to travel passenger locator forms free. A contingency plan has been put in place in the case of future Covid variants, however, Grant Shapps has clarified that efforts will be made to ensure travel isn’t too disrupted in the case a new variant emerges.  

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “As we learn to live with COVID-19, we’re taking further steps to open up international travel once again ahead of the Easter holidays. 

“We will continue monitoring and tracking potential new variants and keep a reserve of measures that can be rapidly deployed if needed to keep us safe. 

“We can remove these final restrictions thanks to the incredible success of our vaccination programme, which has seen more than eight out of 10 adults across the UK boosted.” 

We still encourage consumers to keep an eye on the Foreign Travel Advice for destination requirements, however, it is fantastic news that they will now only need to worry about the requirements of their destination for Covid restrictions.  

This comes after several weeks of travel businesses, advisors, and consumers all urging the drop of passenger locator forms, and it is no surprise that many are celebrating this huge change for the UK travel industry.

So, if you’d like to learn more about how your consumers’ monies are protected with Protected Trust Services (PTS) and how we support excellent travel businesses, check out our pages. Or you can get in touch with the lovely PTS team by calling 0207 190 9988 or emailing us at ask@protectedtrustservices.com.