UK to announce international travel rules for summer

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on Monday expected to announce a framework for the easing of international travel from the UK.

He will provide details about a proposed “traffic light” travel system, expected to be used to facilitate some level of international tourism this summer, as the nation emerges intrepidly from a lockdown. 

“We are doing everything we can to enable the reopening of our country… as safely as possible,” Mr Johnson said.

As things stand, the UK has set a tentative date of 17th May to relaunch international travel.

Before then, residents there are not permitted to travel internationally, except for specific reasons, and arrivals are required to present negative PCR tests and isolate.

Mr Johnson’s announcement will be watched eagerly by many in Malta, which is expected to open to tourists from 1st June, and where tourists from the UK are expected to make up many of the first arrivals into the country. 

It is hoped that Malta’s strong vaccine rollout programme will allow the country to accept tourists sooner than many others.

Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne has predicted that by summer, Malta will likely be “one of the safest places for people to travel to, because the vast majority of the country will have been vaccinated.”