By A Correspondent- The United Kingdom is set to scrap all remaining COVID-19 travel rules on Friday.

UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, confirmed in a tweet that the rules will end at 4 AM on Friday.

People who arrive in the UK after 4 AM, Friday 18 March, will not need to take any COVID-19 tests before they travel or after they arrive.

Travellers will also not be required to fill in a UK passenger locator form before they arrive.

Passengers who are not fully vaccinated will no longer have to take COVID-19 tests before and after travelling to the UK.

Travellers also will not need to quarantine when they arrive, in line with current rules. Shapps tweeted:

These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout and mean greater freedom in time for Easter.

The changes in UK travel rules have been welcomed by some figures in the travel industry. Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, said:

Today’s announcement sends a clear message to the world – the UK travel sector is back.

With travellers returning to the UK no longer burdened by unnecessary forms and testing requirements, we can now look forward to the return to pre-Covid normality throughout the travel experience.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson welcomed the latest move saying it will help further restore consumer confidence.

The removal of all remaining UK travel restrictions is the final important step towards frictionless air travel, helping to further restore consumer confidence as we welcome more customers back to the skies this spring and summer.

To uphold the experience of all travellers, it’s vital that the UK Government works closely with industry to ensure the UK border is ready for increasing passengers, as international travel ramps up.