Brit holidaymakers could soon be able to head for the Turkish sun without having to quarantine on return, due to a drop in Covid cases.
Turkey may be removed from the UK’s red list when changes are revealed next week
Brits have been unable to travel to Turkey for almost a year and before the pandemic on average 2.3million holidaymakers travelled to the tourist hotspot from the UK each year.
The government is due to issue an update on travel rules next week and analysts have suggested Turkey could be removed from the red list, reports the Times.
Under current rules travellers have to quarantine on return from Turkey which means ten days at a hotel costing £2,285 each.
While Turkey may be taken off the red list, other popular tourist spots like Spain, Portugal and Greece are likely to remain amber.
A travel corridor had been in place to Turkey which was removed last October due to a rise in virus cases.
Pressure is mounting for Turkey to be made amber which would mean all adults who have had two vaccine doses and under-18s could avoid quarantine on their return to the UK.
A government source told The Times that still no definite decision had been made to change Turkey's current status and an announcement would be made in the middle of next week.
Figures from NHS Track and Trace have shown that 1.7% of people coming to the UK from Turkey in the last three weeks tested positive for Covid.
It is almost half the level from March and April and in line with for example figures for Spain while India was removed from the red list for a similar level.
During the last week Turkey had almost half the number of Covid cases as in the UK with 236 positives per million people.
Paul Charles, founder of the PC Agency travel consultancy, told The Times: “Turkey very much deserves to be on the amber list as it has some of the best Covid safety policies in place, especially in hotels and other tourist areas and has worked hard to reduce its infection rates.
"Many agree it feels safer there than it does in the UK.”
Fifty changes to the rules for travellers arriving in England have been made since March 2020 and the traffic light system has been updated every three weeks since it was introduced in May after the ban on all non-essential travel was changed.
It comes after sweeping new changes to rules in England that mean double-jabbed Brits are no longer legally required to isolate if they come into contact with someone with Covid.
But as far as international travel goes, the rules remain unchanged, and double jabbed travellers arriving from red list countries are still required to quarantine.
Latest travel regulations remain in place for red, amber and green list countries based on the government's assessment of Covid risk.
Those who arrive from an amber country need to take a Covid-19 test before arrival, and book and pay for a day two and day eight test.
They must also complete a passenger locator form.
When they arrive in England they have to quarantine at home, or the place they are staying for the next 10 days.
If the test is negative they end the quarantine early, but they will still need to take a compulsory test on or after day eight.
