Turkey expects to be removed from the UK’s travel red list, say reports, as UK ministers prepare to announce updates to the traffic light system on Thursday (August 26).
The Guardian also said there is also pressure for restrictions to be eased on passengers arriving from Pakistan.
This would mean passengers from these countries would be allowed into the UK again as long as they test negative for Covid before travelling.
Some will have to isolate at home for up to 10 days, but those who were fully vaccinated in the UK, Europe or US could avoid quarantine.
“However, senior Whitehall sources downplayed any suggestion of a drastic overhaul, indicating that the announcement is not likely to affect as many holidaymakers as previous reviews,” added the Guardian.
It added: “Government insiders told the Guardian that the red list was no longer viewed as a mechanism to temporarily pause passenger traffic, but a more medium-term block.”
Turkey’s embassy in London said the latest scientific data “supports our expectation” that the country “will be removed from the red list at the upcoming review”.
It said case numbers in Turkey were “decreasing and lower than the UK”, and countries now allowing in fully vaccinated Turks included the US, Germany, France and Ireland.
“We expect the UK to take into account all these developments and remove Turkey from the red list this week,” the embassy said in a statement.
The Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi and the Conservative MP Rehman Chishti, who lead the all-party parliamentary group on Pakistan, wrote to the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, urging him to reclassify it as amber.
John Bevan, divisional senior vice president of dnata Travel, owner of Travel Republic, Travelbag, Netflights and Sunmaster, told the Telegraph: “We don’t expect this week’s tinkering with the traffic light status to significantly change things for us. We’ll welcome the movement of Turkey and the Maldives to the amber list if that does happen, both of which are popular with our customers and will give more people the chance to squeeze in last minute break in the sun before the schools return.
“However, what’s really needed is a wholesale change to how the concept of traffic lights as a way to safely manage international travel is applied. The system is due for review in October, and our hope is that it is scrapped and replaced with something simpler.”
The Telegraph also said Spain and France look set to keep their amber status in the update.
Meanwhile, Sky News reported Morocco, St Lucia and Jamaica are ‘at risk’ of going on red lists.