Consumer champion Which? has branded the government’s latest travel corridor announcement confusing, and urged ministers to do a better job clearly communicating where travel is and isn’t possible.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps on Thursday (17 September) announced Thailand and Singapore would be added to the country’s quarantine-free travel corridor list as of 4am on Saturday (19 September).
However, both countries have onerous entry requirements, including quarantine, which puts them all-but out of reach of short-term visitors, such as tourists.
Which? travel editor Rory Boland said the lack of clarity from the government’s travel corridor announcements, broken in usual in a string of tweets by Shapps, could lead people to purchasing flights they are effectively unable to use.
“While the government characterises these as travel corridors, the addition of Thailand and Singapore won’t make any difference to most travellers as a vast majority of UK residents still can’t gain entry to either destinations," said Boland.
“It’s an inaccurate term, and may lead to some people purchasing flights only to find themselves barred from boarding at the airport and with no right to a refund.
“It’s clear we are going to continue for some period with countries being added and removed from these lists. That being the case, the government needs to do a better job of clearly communicating to where travel is and isn’t possible.”
Slovenia and Guadeloupe, meanwhile, have been removed from the government’s travel corridor list.