All Covid restrictions to end for France to UK travel on Friday
However, some measures are still in place for a trip UK to France, especially for people who are not fully vaccinated
Heathrow airport in London. From March 18 there will be zero Covid-related travel restrictions to enter the UK
Brookgardener / Shutterstock
The UK will end all remaining Covid-related travel restrictions for people entering the country on Friday (March 18).
It means fully vaccinated travellers from France will no longer need to fill out a passenger locator form (PLF) ahead of their flight.
It also means non-fully vaccinated travellers from France will no longer need to take a pre-departure Covid test and a second one within two days of arriving in the UK or fill out the PLF.
See UK government rules here on who is considered fully vaccinated for travel purposes.
UK transport minister Grant Shapps said that the changes are possible due to the country’s strong vaccine rollout, and mean “greater freedom in time for Easter”.
Several Connexion readers had previously questioned why PLFs have been still required for fully vaccinated travellers as they have no need to quarantine or test on arrival.
You can read our article on that here, published February 16.
UK to France travel – no change to the rules
France updated its Covid travel lists yesterday (March 14), moving 23 more countries from its amber list to its green list. The UK was not among these countries, and remains amber-listed.
In the UK, “an active circulation of the virus is observed but at a controlled level, without emerging variants of concern,” according to the French interior ministry.
The UK has reported 444,201 new Covid cases over the past seven days, an increase of 48.1% on the past week.
France has a similar rate, averaging 62,917 Covid cases each day (an increase of 21% from last week), which would work out as 440,419 over a seven-day period.
Fully vaccinated people travelling to France from amber-list countries need only show proof of vaccination and a sworn statement (engagement sur l’honneur) confirming that they are not experiencing Covid symptoms and have not been in contact with a confirmed case in the last 14 days.
Unvaccinated people aged 18 and over (and those aged 12 - 17 travelling without a fully vaccinated adult) must also have a compelling reason for travel and present a PCR test result from the 72 hours before or an antigen test result from the 48 hours before to the travel operator. Certificates of recovery are not listed as valid proof in this case.
Read more:France Covid travel list: US moves to green, UK stays on orange
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