Health secretary Sajid Javid will back the end of Passenger Locator Forms for arrivals to England by Easter, according to reports.
The Guardian said Javid had “acquiesced to pressure” from transport secretary Grant Shapps ahead of a meeting next Monday.
Hopes have been rising that the PLF will be removed in time for the Easter holidays, marking an end to restrictions introduced as a result of the Covid pandemic.
However, sources suggested the Department of Health, the chief medical officers and the Scottish government remained opposed to its removal.
Aviation minister Robert Courts told the Airlines UK annual dinner in London this week: “We’ve heard your concerns in the Passenger Locator Form. The secretary of state [Grant Shapps] and I both want the PLF gone as soon as possible and we are working towards that.”
He argued: “Since early February we’ve had one of the most open Covid regimes in the world. This is a Conservative government. We must not and will not become addicted to bureaucratic restrictions.”