Travel UK news live: Latest green list updates as France looks likely to shed ‘amber plus’ status

The number of flights British Airways will operate from the US to the UK will increase later this month.

It comes after double-vaccinated travellers from the US and EU countries – except France – were allowed from 4am on Monday to enter the UK without the need to self-isolate on arrival.

Existing flights between New York’s JFK Airport and London Heathrow will increase to 21 per week (up from 17) from 16 August.

The number of flights from Los Angeles and Chicago will increase to 10 per week (up from seven) from the same date.

From 23 August, the number of flights between Seattle and Heathrow will increase to seven flights per week (up from four). Flights from Los Angeles will increase again to 14 flights on the same date.

Sean Doyle, British Airways chairman and CEO, said: “This move will also help boost the British economy and the hospitality sector, which like aviation, has been crippled by the effects of the pandemic.”

A traveller has appealed to the UK government to issue full refunds to those staying in a quarantine hotel which he says is infested with rats.

The 25-year-old from York, identified only as Anthony, contacted his MP Rachael Maskell after he checked into the Mercure Hotel at Heathrow to quarantine under government guidelines.

Travellers returning to the UK from “red list” countries have to pay £1,750 for a 10-day isolation.

He told the Labour MP that, since 24 July, he had been forced to move rooms at least twice due to the rats entering along poorly boxed-in pipes.

Ms Maskell has reported the situation to the Department of Health and Social Care.

Sky News reported that Mercure Hotels said that a pest control professional had found “no evidence of pest activity”.

New York City will become the first big US city to require proof of vaccination against Covid for customers and staff at indoor venues.

The policy will be enforced starting 13 September for bars, restaurants, gyms, and entertainment venues.

It is similar to measures taken in France to curtail the spread of coronavirus, particularly the more contagious strains such as the Delta variant.

“We know this is what’s going to turn the tide,” New York mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference.

The wearing of face masks will not be made compulsory but is highly recommended, he said.

Scotland is developing an app to allow vaccinated people to travel abroad, Nicola Sturgeon said today.

The First Minister said that the app, which is under development, would help facilitate travel overseas and could possibly be used as proof of vaccination for attending domestic venues and events.

Ms Sturgeon added that she was “highly cautious” about the domestic use of Covid passports but she wanted to consider whether they could play a role in the future.

As she announced the move beyond Level 0, she said the Scottish Government was considering “very carefully the possible, albeit limited, use of Covid status certification for access to certain higher risk venues in future”.

She stressed that no decision on the domestic use of Covid status certification had been taken yet.

Morocco is rolling out new lockdown rules, including a night curfew, in an attempt to curb a sharp increase in Covid cases and deaths.

From today, the curfew will be in place from 9pm until 5am.

Travel to and from Marrakech, Casablanca and Agadir will also be banned, except for those with a vaccine passport certificate.

The North African nation has recorded 8,760 new Covid cases and 64 deaths in 24 hours – figures released today show.

Around 54,000 people in Morocco are currently infected with the virus, which is its highest number so far.

The country’s Ministry of Health expects the current wave of infections to peak over the coming days, according to English-language website Morocco World News.

A record daily number of 9,428 new cases was recorded on 28 July.

Morocco is currently on the UK’s amber travel list for arrivals.

Getting a proper night’s sleep on a long-haul flight is no longer the exclusive preserve of business class passengers, thanks to a new initiative from Lufthansa.

The German carrier this week launched ‘Sleeper’s Row’, which allows passengers to book an entire row of economy class seats and turn them into a bed for the duration of the flight.

A thin mattress, blanket and pillow are provided, along with a special seat belt to enable the passenger to be strapped in while lying down.

With up to three Sleeper’s Rows per flight, the new seating set up is subject to availability at the time of check-in or boarding, so cannot be booked in advance.

Boris Johnson faced fresh calls to ease international travel restrictions as the fallout continued from a decision to abandon plans for a new watchlist.

The idea of an “amber watchlist” for countries at risk of being moved into the red category has been ditched following ministerial infighting, Tory backbench opposition and criticism from the travel industry.

Whitehall sources have blamed Transport Secretary Grant Shapps for the fiasco, while Labour accused the Government of being responsible for “reckless U-turns and confusion”.

Meanwhile, it has emerged the head of the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), which advises on the travel rules, has quietly left her post without a successor being appointed.

The amber watchlist plan was killed off on Monday but the bitter briefing wars around the policy continued in Westminster, with Mr Shapps the focus of attention.

“The Department for Transport came up with this policy, briefed it, briefed against it, then blamed the Prime Minister,” a Whitehall source told The Times.

Ministers are expected to consider any changes to the traffic light system later this week.

The UK government is on the verge of scrapping mandatory hotel quarantine for passengers who arrive into the UK on connecting flights via “airport hubs”, it has been reported.

Currently anyone passing through a red list country must complete 10 days’ (11 nights’) hotel quarantine on arrival in the UK, at a cost of up to £1,750 per person, even if they only transited through a red-list country’s airport to catch an onward flight.

The potential change in the rules would allow those who remain airside during transit to avoid red list rules – providing they don’t leave the airport – and instead follow the rules associated with the country their journey originated in.

Some 45 per cent of Brits said that they would choose trains over planes for travel based on greater sustainability, according to new research.

A new survey conducted for Omio by YouGov shows that attitudes have shifted, with 57 per cent of Brits now willing to change their preferred mode of transport to a more environmentally-friendly option.

However, pricing continues to be a key motivator: 49 per cent would be more likely to switch to rail travel purely if the ticket price was cheaper than flying.

Almost a third of the more than 2,000 UK respondents would happily accept a slightly longer journey if it had a positive impact on the environment, with almost a third willing to spend up to an additional 30 minutes travelling, and 16 per cent content to double that to up to 60 minutes longer.

Boris Radke, VP of corporate affairs, said: “Omio has always sought to highlight the ease of making sustainable choices by providing clear information about the cost, time and environmental impact of travel across different modes of transport.

“We continue to challenge the common perception that flying is the fastest and most cost effective option and our recent survey shows there has been a shift in the ways Brits choose to travel pre and post Covid.

“As we emerge from a global pandemic and travel resumes, we hope to encourage consumers to consider they can support sustainable travel while potentially saving time and money.”

Thailand, Georgia and Iran are likely candidates to be moved to the UK government’s red list of “high risk” countries at the upcoming review of international travel rules, according to experts.

The next announcement is expected to take place on 5 August as part of the Department for Transport’s tri-weekly update of the travel traffic light lists.

Independent data expert Tim White flagged the three destinations as potential red list additions due to soaring Covid-19 infections, with Thailand and Iran both surpassing their previous records for total new daily cases.