New travel rules for people arriving back in Wales from overseas have been announced.
First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed that he was "reluctantly" following changes announced by Boris Johnson for England on January 24, with pre-departure tests scrapped for some passengers arriving in Wales.
Fully-vaccinated travellers arriving in Wales will not be required to take a test on or before day two, while unvaccinated arrivals will not be required to take a day eight test or self-isolate for 10 days. You can read the new rules in full here.
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Mr Drakeford said that the Welsh Government had concerns about the speed at which the UK had eased international travel restrictions, but conceded that diverging from England's rules would create "significant practical difficulties", with many Welsh travellers using English airports.
He added: "The unravelling of the system of international arrival surveillance in particular, leaves a major gap in future protections. We continue to advocate a more precautionary approach towards retaining these public health protections because of the ongoing risk of importing new variants of Covid-19 through international travel."
The change has been welcomed by airlines and holiday companies, which are already seeing a surge in bookings as holidaymakers make the most of the eased restrictions.
Some airlines have now issued statements in response to the "game-changing" announcement - here's what they had to say:
Jet2
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said bookings have increased by nearly a third since the announcement was made.
Chief executive Steve Heapy said there had been a "notable increase in demand for holidays and flights across all seasons", including February half-term, with bookings up by 30% on the previous week.
He added: “Yesterday’s travel update is a real game-changer for the millions of people who simply want to get away to enjoy their well-deserved holidays.
"It means vaccinated customers can once again book and travel on the normal, hassle-free holidays that they know and love. We applaud the Government for taking meaningful action to end a set of measures which were not only unnecessary but also ineffective in tackling the spread of the Omicron variant.
"This should now represent a permanent end to such restrictions, and we know customers will celebrate that news.”
Ryanair
Ryanair - which offers routes from Cardiff Airport to Dublin, Faro, Vienna and Malaga - said it welcomed the announcement to scrap testing from February 11.
A spokesperson for the airline said: "We have already seen a significant uplift in bookings off the back of yesterday’s announcement and look forward to a strong mid-term, Easter and summer as we move forward and continue to lead the UK’s traffic and tourism recovery and build our network of passengers to 225m p.a. by 2026.”
EasyJet
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “We welcome this news knowing that millions of our customers will also be delighted to see the return of restriction free travel in the UK. We now look ahead to what we believe will be a strong summer.
“We believe testing for travel should now firmly become a thing of the past. It is clear travel restrictions did not materially slow the spread of Omicron in the UK and so it is important that there are no more knee jerk reactions to future variants.
“We commend the government for removing all testing. EasyJet plans to return to near 2019 levels of flying this summer and so we can’t wait to welcome our customers back onboard.”
Virgin Atlantic
The announcement was welcomed by Virgin Atlantic, who said it was "the final step in moving towards frictionless air travel".
A spokesperson for the airline added: “Britain is now open for business and it’s vital that the aviation industry is allowed to lead the way in boosting prospects for economic recovery.
“The removal of all testing for vaccinated passengers is the final step in moving towards frictionless air travel, allowing passengers to reconnect with loved ones and business colleagues.
"It restores customer confidence and demand will be boosted in a critical booking window for the travel industry.
“We have demonstrated that international travel can operate safely, taking full advantage of our world leading vaccine rollout. To ensure certainty for the industry, we will continue to work with UK government on an evidence-based framework for variants of concern, eliminating border closures which have proven to be ineffective.”
TUI
A spokesperson for the airline - which flies from Cardiff Airport - said the change was a "huge leap forwards" for the industry.
Andrew Flintham, managing director for TUI UK said: “The latest travel announcement to remove testing for everyone is who double vaccinated is a huge leap forwards in getting travel back to normal.
"The relaxation of testing rules has already resulted in an increase in bookings, with customer confidence growing every day in recent weeks.
“Many families look to go on holiday over the February half term, so we are delighted these changes will come into effect in time. Going abroad will finally start to feel more normal again and without the added expenses of testing.
“Long haul favourites Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cape Verde and the Canaries have seen the biggest interest for winter escapes. And we now expect summer 2022 bookings to be back to pre-pandemic levels.
“We know that many of our customers haven’t been away on a well-deserved break for more than two years and we can’t wait to take them on their holiday.”
British Airways
British Airways chairman and chief executive, Sean Doyle, said the announcement provided "a welcome boost" to the travel industry and UK economy.
He added: “Finally fully-vaccinated customers can start to book with confidence whether they are doing business, going on holiday or reuniting with friends and family without the additional costly and time-consuming burden of testing.
"It sends a clear message to the rest of the world that global Britain is back in business.”
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