The transport secretary made the promise on Monday afternoon (21 February) in a string of tweets expanding on prime minister Boris Johnson’s so-called "living with Covid-19" plan.

Johnson confirmed the UK’s passenger locator form would be reviewed by Easter, and that the NHS Covid Pass will remain available to international travellers in the event they need to prove their Covid status.

The government’s hotel quarantine regime will also be mothballed, and ministers will in future have a "toolkit of proportionate measures" to address new threats posed by Covid-19.

Shapps said he was aware of the damage caused by the rapid imposition of Covid travel curbs, such as those introduced in late-November – all-but halting travel’s recovery overnight.

"Now we’ve got on top of Omicron, it’s time to #livewithcovid," said Shapps. "I understand the huge personal and economic costs of border measures. So we won’t implement emergency measures in response to new Covid variants unless in extreme circumstances."

Shapps continued: "The 11 February relaxation of travel rules was a huge boost for all. We’re now preparing to stand down our quarantine hotels, have simplified the passenger locator form and a toolkit of proportionate measures we can deploy to tackle new threats.

"We’ll set out our contingency approach and international travel toolkit in more detail before Easter."