[Updated to include details of how and when international travel might resume.]
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has announced a review to look at how to restart international travel as part of a roadmap out of current lockdown restrictions in England and other parts of the UK that was announced today in the House of Commons.
The review will report back to the government by 12 April but the Government said that international travel from England would not resume until 17 May at the earliest. The devolved nations will set their own rules on travel, it said.
Johnson said that the review would be carried out by a successor to the global travel taskforce, which was set up in October but quietly deactivated in January. The new review will be led by the Department for Transport, working with UK representatives of
the travel sector, including airlines and airports, "with an ambition to develop a framework that can facilitate greater inbound and
outbound travel as soon as the time is right, while still managing the risk from imported
cases and variants".
It said, "This will look to take a risk-based approach, making use of the
suite of measures the Government already has in place such as testing and isolation
and the recommendations from the first global travel taskforce last year.
"The decision on when international
travel can resume will be dependent on the global and domestic epidemiological
picture, the prevalence and location of any Variants of Concern, the progress of
vaccine rollouts here and abroad, and what more the Government has learned about
the efficacy of vaccines on variants, and the impact on transmission, hospitalisation
and deaths."
The prime minister announced the review as part of a number of measures, including the reopening of schools and mixing of households from 8 March.
Johnson also announced a review of Covid-status certification.
The prime minister added that a further stage of reopening, starting no sooner than 17 May and subject to the continued success of the vaccination rollout, would see hotels reopen in England for overnight stays.
Large events, such as conferences and exhibitions, would not start until 21 June at the earliest and may require enhanced testing to go ahead.
Commenting on the announcement, Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel Association, said: "The BTA welcomes the roadmap the Prime Minister set out in Parliament today.
"With this cautious approach, we urge the Chancellor to extend the furlough scheme and other financial measures in his Budget next week.
"The 12 April review is not far away. We encourage the successor to the global travel taskforce to work closely with our industry - both business and leisure - so we can get people travelling safely and contributing to the economy once more."