UK ditches all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions

LONDON

Passengers arriving in the UK will no longer fill a passenger locator form even if they are unvaccinated as all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted on Friday.

Unvaccinated passengers will not have to take tests or fill pre-flight forms to locate them during their stay in the country as of 0400GMT.

The new unrestricted travel came almost after two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and people were first advised against all non-essential international travel in March 2020.

A range of "contingency measures" may be applied if needed, to take "swift and proportionate action" to tackle new variants, the Department for Transport said.

"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," Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.

The lifting of travel restrictions was possible due to the success of the vaccine rollout in the country, Health Secretary Sajid Javid noted.