British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will trial fast-track lanes at London’s Heathrow airport for fully-vaccinated inbound travellers to support the Government in lifting some of the most onerous restrictions for travellers arriving from ‘amber list’ countries.
Fully vaccinated travellers of all nationalities will be able to present their COVID-19 credentials in digital or paper format before boarding.
“The trial aims to reassure government that airlines and airports can check vaccine status upstream and away from the border, ensuring no further pressure in UK immigration halls,” said British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:IAG).
British Airways customers will be able to access a discounted rate for the mandatory arrivals tests, it added.
Media reports yesterday said the UK government is expected to announce that fully vaccinated travellers arriving from countries on the ‘amber list’ will no longer have to quarantine from as early as July 19.
Countries on the amber list, which includes Spain, France, Italy and the US, are currently required to isolate for up to 10 days on arrival.
July 19 is also the date when the UK government will scrap most lockdown measures in England.
The easing of restrictions comes at a time when COVID-19 cases are increasing. Yesterday, 28,773 cases were reported in the UK.
New Health Secretary Sajid Javid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he would expect cases numbers by 19 July to be at least double what they were now to about 50,000 new cases a day, with that figure rising as high as 100,000 as the UK goes into the summer.