[Article updated with new guidance regarding Scotland]
New rules which require anyone arriving in England and Scotland to have a negative Covid test will come into force at 4am on 15 January.
All inbound passengers to England and Scotland arriving by plane, train or ship will have to take a test no more than three days before departure and provide evidence of a negative result to their transport provider before they travel. Providers may deny boarding “where appropriate” to reduce the numbers of non-compliant arrivals.
A Covid test will be required even for those countries on the government’s travel corridor list for arrivals in England. Travellers from countries not on the list will still be able to shorten their quarantine to five days through England's test to release scheme.
The UK government says the test must be “of a diagnostic-standard test such as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, and could in some cases include LAMP and lateral flow tests within set limits”.
Aviation minister Robert Courts said, “We will set out the information passengers will need to have with them at check-in and the UK border to show they have had a qualifying negative test. This will include set data fields which test result certificates must include. All information on test requirements will be made available to passengers and transport operators through guidance on [UK government website] gov.uk.”
Arrivals from three overseas territories – St Helena, Ascension Island and the Falklands – will not be required to test because of a lack of infrastructure. The same will also apply to arrivals from Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia and Barbados but only until 21 January.
Non-compliant passengers arriving in England face fines starting at £500 while those without certificates arriving in Scotland will be served with a fixed penalty notice of £480. Operators can also be fined for carrying non-compliant travellers.
The UK aviation minister said that the measures are likely to be in place until the end of the current lockdown, although a review will take place before the end of that period.
Courts added, “We have worked closely with the international travel sector during the course of the pandemic and will continue to do so as we emerge from lockdown and are able to encourage people to travel again with confidence.”
Scottish transport secretary Michael Matheson said: “Non-essential travel into or out of Scotland is currently illegal and that will remain the case while we work to suppress the new strain of Covid-19 and the requirement for pre-departure testing does not change this."
The devolved governments of Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to follow suit.