Written on 8^th July 2020

Travel corridors: what do they really mean for UK travel?

On 3rd July the UK Government announced that it would be revising quarantine regulations for travellers arriving in England. From 10th July 2020 travellers will no longer have to self-isolate when they arrive in England, if they are travelling or returning from a country with a travel corridor exemption.  

But what does this mean in reality? Which countries are truly exempt and where can travellers confidently fly to and from without having to undertake a 14-day self-isolation period? 

Which countries are exempt on arrival in the UK? 

Below is a list of all the countries currently (as of 8th July 2020) exempt from self-isolation on arrival in the UK. This list is subject to change as countries may be added or removed, depending on their COVID-19 status.  

According to the UK Government’s official website as long as you are travelling or returning from one of the above countries, and have not stopped anywhere else in the previous 14 days, you can enter the UK without any need to self-isolate, although you will still need to provide your journey and contact details on arrival.  

If, however, you are travelling or returning from a country not on this list, or have stopped over at a country not on this list then you must self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. This means that should you be travelling to the UK from Australia, but stopped over in Dubai, you would need to self-isolate, as Dubai is not on the travel corridor list, even though Australia is.  

Which of these countries can I travel to without restrictions? 

The next area to unravel is which of the above countries would allow people travelling or returning from the UK to enter their country without quarantine. This is an area which seems to have slipped out of focus, leaving many travellers thinking that they are now free to fly, however there are still strict quarantines or even total bans in many countries on the list.  

Out of the above list of travel corridor countries, travellers and those returning from the UK can only move freely between the following countries: 

• Andorra 
• Aruba 
• Belgium 
• Croatia (tourists must complete an entry form online in advance) 
• Czech Republic 
• Denmark (tourists must provide evidence online of a holiday stay for six nights or more) 
• Faroe Islands 
• France (arrivals from the UK are asked to carry out a “voluntary quarantine” for 14 days; mandatory only if a traveller shows signs of – expected to be lifted 10 July) 
• Germany 
• Greenland 
• Italy and Vatican City 
• Liechtenstein 
• Luxembourg 
• Monaco 
• Poland 
• Réunion 
• San Marino 
• Serbia 
• Spain 
• Switzerland 
• Turkey 

This list is updating continuously and is correct as of 8th July 2020. For real time destination information, IATA has a Travel Regulations Map showing you the current restrictions globally.  

How do I plan my travel in line with changing regulations? 

This is a tricky one. As we’ve seen, in a matter of weeks or even days, the whole world can be brought to a standstill. However, businesses and travel companies in particular have learnt from the experience and are now putting additional guarantees in place to give travellers the confidence to start making plans. Many are offering free date changes or cancellations, in acknowledgement of the fluidity of the situation, meaning that travellers can be secure in the knowledge that booking a trip won’t see them out of pocket, should guidelines change.  

One of the best ways to plan is to rely on the experience and knowledge of a professional. Navigating the complexity of travel in the coming months is going to take a specific skill set, so working with a travel management company could prove to be invaluable. There are also several tools and websites to give you up-to-date information on the latest developments, the most useful of which can be found on our dedicated COVID-19 pages.  

Whenever and however you choose to travel will be very much a personal decision. Our aim is to help guide you through this phase, to care and prepare for the return to travel.