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The UK government is currently in talks with ministers and officials from other countries about potentially opening up ‘travel corridors’ to allow British holidaymakers to travel abroad without the need to quarantine.

Popular tourist destinations including including Greece, Turkey, and Spain are keen to adopt this proposal, which would let British holidaymakers travel to European resorts least affected by the coronavirus pandemic from July.

The UK’s new coronavirus quarantine system requires most arrivals from abroad – bar a handful of exemptions – to self-isolate for two weeks when they get to the UK. They must also fill out a public health form, give the authorities their contact details and the address of their accommodation where they will isolate.

In England, any breaches will result in £1,000 fines and police are allowed to use ‘reasonable force’ to ensure travellers are following the rules. Failure to complete the locator form is also punishable by a £100 fixed penalty notice.

So, what exactly are travel corridors?

‘Travel corridors’, ‘transport corridors’, or ‘air bridges’ would allow passengers to travel on certain routes to and from countries with low Covid-19 infection rates without the need quarantine when they return to the UK.

However, this plan potentially overlooks individual reciprocal agreements with destination countries and the need to protect the public from high-risk arrivals.

“We will only open up air bridges when it is safe to do so and there will be more on that on the review period on June 29,” transport secretary Grant Shapps has said. “We are talking to airlines and talking to airports and will talk to other countries about it, but the basic principle must be that we don’t end up in a second wave situation.”

When can I potentially travel again?

There have been calls from the travel industry and politicians for ‘travel corridors’ to be introduced by the end of June. 

Spain will re-open its borders to some visitors from June 21, while all Greek airports will re-open from July 1, welcoming visitors on international flights – including UK ones – with random testing for all arrivals.

British holidaymakers are still advised against all non-essential foreign travel.

When will flights resume?

The vast majority of operations have been grounded since the start of the UK lockdown. Some airlines have completely suspended their timetables, while others are still flying, but on a skeleton schedule. 

EasyJet will resume flights as of June 15, operating mostly domestic flights. The airline hopes to avoid any government-imposed travel restrictions for arriving passengers.

Ryanair will continue to operate its limited flight schedule and reintroduce 40% of its flights from July 1, while fellow low-cost carrier Jet2 has delayed resuming flights and package holidays from July 15.

Virgin Atlantic is set to kickstart a handful of routes from July 20, with more to follow in August. 

British Airways is also aiming to re-open and run at a 50% capacity from July.