The UK’s ‘over-cautious’ and ‘unnecessarily complex’ traffic light system is confusing to travellers, the company behind Stansted Airport says.
MAG, the group which owns and operates London Stansted, has called for the Government to make urgent reforms ahead of the scheduled October 1 review date.
It calls for a simplified two-tier system and to remove mandatory testing requirements for fully vaccinated arrivals from countries without new, concerning Covid-19 variants.
Read more: The countries most likely to move from red to amber or green
The group hopes these changes will protect the travel sector through the winter season and restore consumer confidence now for bookings next summer.
Signing up to the CambridgeshireLive newsletter means you’ll receive our daily news email.
It couldn’t be simpler and it takes seconds – simply click here, enter your email address and follow the instructions.
You can also enter your address at the top of this page in the box below the picture on most desktop and mobile platforms.
Changed your mind? There’s an ‘unsubscribe’ button at the bottom of every newsletter we send out.
Figures reported by the group show the sluggish recovery of the UK aviation sector, with passenger numbers at Stansted for August at 60 per cent down on the same month in 2019.
The introduction of a two-tier system would see the majority of countries open for travel as the default, with only those which pose a significant public health risk from new variants subject to travel restrictions such as testing and a period of quarantine.
The group says this proposal would remove the “chaos and confusion” caused by the traffic light system and reduce concerns about last-minute changes.
Ending mandatory PCR testing for fully vaccinated passengers would remove a “costly and unnecessary barrier” to travel and bring the UK’s travel policy back in line with Europe, it says.
Also adding: “The Government has previously justified the need for these…