Eight destinations have been added to the UK’s travel corridor list while Greece, apart from five islands, has been removed.
The eight additions are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iceland, Chile, Cambodia, Laos, Qatar, the Turks and Caicos islands and Bahrain, meaning arrivals from those countries no longer need to quarantine for 14 days.
The Greek islands remaining on the list are Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, Zakynthos and Kos.
The travel ban on Denmark has been extended for a further 14 days.
Changes to the restrictions come into force at 4am on Saturday, November 14, transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed in his weekly update via Twitter.
Shapps reiterated that travel, except for some reasons including work and education, is not permitted under current lockdown restrictions in England.
Travel Corridor Update:
BAHRAIN, CHILE, ICELAND, CAMBODIA, LAOS, UAE, QATAR and TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS have been ADDED to the #TravelCorridor list. If you arrive from these countries after 4am on Saturday 14th November you will NOT need to self-isolate. pic.twitter.com/wjw1JvUU8Q— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) November 12, 2020
An Abta spokesperson said: “It is good that the government is continuing to review and add destinations to the travel corridor list. This at least makes some progress ready for when people are able to travel again after lockdown in England and opens up more routes for those parts of the UK where international travel is still allowed.
“But today’s announcement is also a reminder that the government needs to move to a fully regionalised approach, so that restrictions can be applied to isolated areas as opposed to whole mainlands or countries. We also can’t stress enough the urgent need for the government’s Global Travel Taskforce to have an effective testing regime ready to go for when lockdown is lifted.”
Lisa McAuley, managing director B2B tour operations at Dnata Travel Europe, a UAE specialist, said: “The announcement of a travel corridor to the UAE is fantastic news, and opens up the opportunity for agents to make some much needed winter sun bookings.
“Our knowledge of and scale in the region is unrivalled so the team has swung in to action and will be supporting trade partners in the coming days to enable them to make the most of the opportunity that has emerged. After so many challenges this year it is wonderful to get this boost – it’ll be a ‘Dubai December’.”