While many rules have been lifted, holidaymakers must still comply with each European country’s varied, and extended, rules
Families from the UK heading abroad for a mid-summer holiday continue to face the daunting task of testing Covid’s claims due to restrictions on popular destinations.
Although the United Kingdom has removed all UK travel restrictions on Covid, many other countries have conducted various mandatory checks before vacationing.
On Sunday (May 15), Spain announced that it would extend its admission rules until June 15, meaning adults must be fully vaccinated before moving to mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, or the Balearic Islands. Unvaccinated children can walk, but those 12 years and older must show a Covid recovery certificate or have a negative PCR test no more than 72 hours before walking.
Spanish laws are stricter than most other UK European countries, and places like Greece, Croatia, and Austria have removed all restrictions on passengers, regardless of their protected status. Others, such as France and Turkey, allow the restless to travel, but only perform a negative flow or PCR test before arrival.
However, even here, there are travel differences, as both Portugal and Cyprus require a medical professional to perform undamaged flow tests no more than 24 hours before departure, rather than allow passengers to take home their wipes.
Most countries start with testing requirements for children 12 years of age and older, but the rules are different for families traveling to Italy, where all unvaccinated people over six years of age will need to prove their Covid status through testing.
The U.S. is more difficult, as every passenger aged two and over must complete a Covid checkup no more than 24 hours before leaving, regardless of their defense status.
“It’s fun to see people go abroad again, but since the same countries with Covid screening rules apply, passengers need to be vigilant to see if they pass their exams at the destination, said Nick Markham, the founder of Signpost. ExpressJet operates test centers at airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, and Edinburgh.
“The risk is they can’t take a last-minute exam during the flight, so planning the exam at the airport should be considered an important holiday, like buying insurance or a good deal to cover travel expenses.
“Because testing rules change from time to time and often from time to time, we encourage people to keep track of where they’re going and make sure they don’t get caught.”
Families meeting the Covid test requirements must also adhere to mask-wearing rules, as the EU recently announced that airplane coverage is no longer required in most EU countries. Thus, popular destinations, including Greece, Italy, and Spain, claim that they aim to keep men’s rules in place for half the time.
