Digital PLFs ‘will ease airport checks’ Ian Taylor


Fears that severe delays at UK airports would deter outbound travel may be partially allayed by the digitisation of Border Force checks on inbound passengers at 24 entry points from Monday. A system that incorporates


information on the passenger locator forms (PLFs) all inbound travellers are required to complete went live at the start of this week as the government also launched NHS Covid-19 vaccination certificates. Border Force systems now allow


staff to check completed PLFs by scanning passports, reducing the


time taken to check every inbound passenger manually. However, e-gates remain out of use with the necessary system upgrades taking almost a week and only a handful of e-gates being upgraded at any time. Just a few e-gates at Heathrow are likely to be ready by the end of this month. An aviation source said: “This


will help at the border. All checks will remain manual but Border Force staff will be able to see whether the PLF has been completed and identify whether passengers are from red, amber or green destinations.” Department for Transport


guidance to carriers makes clear the standard UK entry procedure will


FCDO ‘remains ultimate reference for travel advice’


Ian Taylor


Foreign Office advice remains “the ultimate reference” for consumers and the industry on travel to amber destinations despite government insistence that “people should not travel to amber countries for a holiday”. That is according to Abta chief


executive Mark Tanzer who told Travel Weekly: “The government position and our position is that Foreign Office advice is the ultimate reference for whether or not you can travel. Despite the confusing messages from the government, that is the benchmark.” The government removed the ban on non-essential overseas travel on


4 20 MAY 2021


Monday, but health secretary Matt Hancock told MPs there must be “an exceptional reason” for travel to a destination designated amber under the traffic light system, insisting: “The government advice is very clear. People should not travel to amber list countries for a holiday.” The FCDO currently advises


against non-essential travel to most countries not on the government’s green list for travel including Spain and Greece, but it no longer advises against travel to some amber destinations including the Canaries, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Kos and Zante. Airlines UK chief executive Tim


Alderslade noted: “The regulations don’t say it’s illegal to travel to amber


The [Border Force]


system looks good on paper, but that is not the same as operating it [when traffic grows]


be the ‘amber process’, requiring 10-day self-isolation, and warns: “Maintaining 100% health checks at the border means queues are inevitable.” The source warned it remains too


early to gauge the extent of future delays as arrival numbers this week were “no different to the last two to


Matt Hancock


three weeks” saying: “The bottleneck will be when passengers return. The system looks good on paper, but that is not the same as operating it.” The vaccination certificate –


available via the NHS app, NHS website or by calling the NHS helpline (119) to request a paper certificate – is solely for those who are travelling to destinations that demand evidence of vaccination for now. But it’s hoped the technology may soon be extended to allow fully vaccinated travellers to forgo restrictions on return to the UK. The government has said test


certificates will be added to the app, but has given no timeframe.


[destinations] so the government should not be suggesting it is.” Tui UK confirmed “where


borders are open and FCDO advice allows travel, we’ll operate to those destinations” and Tui chief executive Fritz Joussen said: “If a customer comes to the conclusion they want to go, who are we to say no? Amber puts a lot of obligations on the customer. When it is amber you have a choice.” A senior aviation source


described the government message as “confusing”, but said: “It doesn’t want a free-for-all. The industry view is ‘let the individual decide’. The government is trying to influence that decision.”


Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the


Association of Atol Companies, agreed “it makes life difficult”, but noted: “Travel insurance will be valid if FCDO advice is not against travel. Insurers have always taken the view of the Foreign Office.” However, he warned that if something goes wrong: “Insurers will use every tool in the book to avoid liability.” Tanzer downplayed the threat of


FCDO advice changing overnight as happened repeatedly last summer. He said: “The advice should not change as quickly as last summer when


infection rates kept changing.” i Tui results, page 46


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURE: Crown Copyright/Tim Hammond


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