Transport secretary Grant Shapps made the weekly announcement via Twitter when he also confirmed that no new countries would be added to the travel corridor list this week.
“We are removing Cyprus and Lithuania from the Travel Corridor list. From 4am Sunday 1 November, if you arrive into the UK from these destinations you will need to self-isolate,” said Shapps.
“We are not adding any countries to the list of travel corridors this week.”
At the same time, the Foreign Office (FCDO) has also updated its travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to both Cyprus and Lithuania.
“There has been a consistent increase in Coivd-19 cases per 100,000 of the population in Cyprus over the last two weeks, with a 79% increase in total cases over this time period,” added the Department for Transport in a statement.
“In Lithuania, new cases per week have increased by 47% over the same time period.
“People currently in Cyprus and Lithuania are encouraged to follow the local rules and check the FCDO travel advice pages for further information.
“The government is urging employers to be understanding of those returning from these destinations who now will need to self-isolate.”
Abta said the last-minute removal of Cyprus’ travel corridor would further “erode consumer confidence” in overseas travel and showed the “urgent need” to introduce testing to reduce the quarantine period.
“We need to get people travelling again to support travel businesses and save jobs,” said an Abta spokesperson. “The government needs to urgently act on testing, introduce a regional travel corridor approach and lift the global travel advisory against non-essential travel by moving back to country specific advice.
“If you are due to travel to Cyprus imminently, we strongly recommend you speak to your travel company to understand your options, which may include seeing whether you can change your booking to another destination, like one of the Canary Islands, or postpone your booking for a later date.“
