COVID travel test suppliers revisited
Back in July, I looked at prices for travel tests and found that the Government's own website was full of suppliers advertising prices that weren't actually available. Grant Shapps promised to clean things up, but six months later, has anything changed?
Predictions for 2022
With 2021 ending badly thanks to the Omicron variant, what will 2022 hold for the travel industry? I had a look at the possibilities.
Implications of Omicron for travel
Just as the travel industry was beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel, with travel restrictions being lifted worldwide, the arrival of Omicron has seen restrictions reimposed once again. How long will they last this time?
Here we go again
Airlines in Europe were finally starting to get more cheerful, with bookings back to something like normal as travel restrictions were relaxed. But could the discovery of the new Omicron variant send the industry back to square one?
A new travel restrictions framework
The UK’s much derided traffic light system of travel restrictions was consigned to the dustbin today. Who are the winners and losers from the new system?
What is the red list for?
Getting added to the UK's red list for travel is a death sentence for travel volumes. With 62 countries currently languishing on the list, I examine the question of what the government is trying to achieve and whether it makes any logical sense.
Time to rethink the UK’s testing regime for international travel
The UK’s system of testing for travellers is hugely more burdensome than other comparable countries. Is it doing an effective job of reducing risk in return for this massive cost?
What did we learn from the latest update of UK travel restrictions?
Mexico to red, France back to amber, Germany and Austria to green. What does it all mean?
Will we get a big revamp of the UK’s traffic light system on Thursday?
The next installment of the UK’s regular three weekly “travel restrictions drama” is due on Thursday. Will we get the usual handful of moves between categories, or is there a chance of a more dramatic set of revisions?
The whys and wherefores of the UK’s new amber plus list
Amber Plus. Sounds like a new beer brand, but in fact it’s the latest addition to the UK's set of travel restriction categories. Why was it created? Will more countries get added to it? And does it make sense anyway?
The true cost of travel test packages
The current UK policy for testing of travellers coming to the UK comes at a significant cost for consumers. Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps thinks that prices have come down and downplays the issue. I did a reality check.
Top tips for the next changes to country travel classifications
Predicting upcoming changes to the UK's traffic light travel ratings has always been rather challenging, as the rationale for the decisions has never been very clear. With another revision due on July 15, I gave it another go.
Travel freedom for fully vaccinated Brits and more testing data published
From July 19, amber list countries will turn green for fully vaccinated Brits and the under 18s. We also got another dump of arrivals testing data. I took a look at what it all means for the travel industry.
Revised arrivals testing figures reveal the staggering cost of every sample sent for sequencing
The UK government has retrospectively revised the data it published for the UK arrivals testing programme. The new data reveal the staggering cost to travellers of every test result sent for sequencing.
Reverse engineering the travel restrictions algorithm
More countries got added to the UK's green and red lists this week. Can we work out what the secret rules are that are driving the decisions?
Will the UK allow its aviation industry to take flight again?
UK travel workers and leaders are urging the government to "save the summer". With time running out, will the government respond in time? Or if not, will they provide financial assistance to save the industry?
Crunching the data from England’s arrival testing programme
The latest figures have just been released from England's international arrivals testing programme. I crunched the data to see what it tells us about how the system is performing.
Travel freedom for the “double-jabbed”?
The UK's traffic light system for setting travel restrictions is widely perceived to be broken. Is there a better way?
Grant Shapps shocks the UK travel industry
Grant Shapps stuns the travel industry with a policy U-turn on reopening UK travel
Final predictions for the second iteration of the UK’s green and red lists
Tomorrow, the UK government is expected to update the green and red lists which govern its travel restrictions. I’ve done a final polish of my predictions for the changes, using the latest data.