Will amber list be scrapped at traffic-light review on October 1st?

As calls in the UK grow for a simplified international travel system, could the Department of Transport’s October “checkpoint review” see a more lenient two-list system put in place as travel restrictions are lifted? Travel industry bosses are calling for the traffic light system to be scrapped to make foreign holidays simpler.

Every three weeks, holidaymakers and the travel industry hold their breath as the winners and losers are revealed in the game of ‘traffic-light shuffle’, and the changes in the tri-weekly announcements, which appear on Grant Shapps’ Twitter account, have proven impossible to predict and have left the UK travel industry in tatters, as consumer confidence takes a hit each time a destination is moved to a different colour or list.

So, when will the traffic light system end?
Up to now the Government has given no hint or indication that they plan to scrap the traffic light system, however, Boris Johnson did state last week that he wanted to make the system “as simple as possible”. If the system is to be reformed or scrapped entirely then it will probably be on October 1st, when a checkpoint review into it is due.

When the UK Government first set up the traffic light system in April, it committed to holding three checkpoint reviews of the system as a whole, along with the tri-weekly shuffle of destinations depending on their epidemiological situation.

The first of these was in June when nothing was changed. The second was in July, at which point the amber-plus list was scrapped, and the cost of managed hotel quarantine for travellers returning from red list countries was increased from £1,750 to £2,285 for a single adult, and £1,430 for a second adult, which commences on Thursday (August 12^th).

The checkpoints are supposed to take into account the “emerging evidence and domestic and international health picture” as well as whether the “vaccine deployment programme continues successfully” at home and in other destinations.

According to the website vaccine-tracker.uk, as of today 89% of the adult population in the Uk have had one dose, and 75% have had two, so by October 1^st at current vaccination rates, all of the UK population will be double-jabbed. Given that the Government has committed to taking the successful vaccination rollout into consideration, this could bolster any argument for scrapping the current traffic light system entirely.

What is a new system expected to look like?
Experts and travel industry representatives are all calling for a simplified two-tier system. This would involve all countries being open to vaccinated travellers, without any need to isolate or possibly even test once home. It would also include a red list for countries with very high rates or dangerous new variants.

Yesterday, the former head of the vaccine task force, Clive Dix, joined the growing chorus of experts and travel industry chiefs now calling on the Government to ditch the traffic-light system. He says that border arrangements are too complicated given the high proportion of UK adult population already vaccinated.

He has backed removing the amber list and creating a two-list system, with a red list of countries from which people would have to quarantine when returning to the UK, and every other country on a green list in which a Covid test once home would suffice.

He told The Telegraph: “I think the current system probably means people who are slightly poorer in society struggle to be able to do any travel abroad and I think that’s unfair.”

Meanwhile, more than 300 travel firms have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to adopt a US-style system. In the US, fully vaccinated citizens can travel to any country that will allow them to enter, provided they take a pre-departure test before returning, and double-jabbed American travellers do not need to quarantine once home.

The ‘Save Our Summer’ group, who pulled together signatories including Trailfinders, United Airlines and Finn Air, admitted that unlike the US, there would still be the need for a red list of countries with the highest Covid rates or worrying variant outbreaks.

Paul Charles, a key spokesperson for the travel industry, and co-founder of Save Our Summer, said: “The Prime Minister could win enormous support by making travel even simpler, not just by removing watch-lists, but also by widening the green list and creating a stop-go system as American citizens use.”

“The US is still protected with pre-departure testing. The UK can follow a similar model as the Government’s own data shows no variants are being brought in from amber or green countries. Let’s see the end of the complex traffic lights and a move to less onerous testing.”

Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Travel Association which represents the airline industry said: “I think a simpler system is definitely what is required to avoid confusion in the case of consumers, and to provide some form of certainty for people who want to travel, and in some cases need to travel. This expensive and unnecessary testing needs to be challenged and I think the government should demonstrate why they require it.”

The current UK traffic light system is based on the following criteria:
- The percentage of a country’s population that have been vaccinated.

- The rate of infection.

- The prevalence of variants of concern.

- The country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.