Britain will allow international travel to resume from May 17 after months of banning most trips abroad, but just 12 countries and territories made the so-called “green list”.
They include Portugal, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and the tiny Faroe Islands but Cyprus has been placed on UK’s travel category B.
This means the only extra entry requirement is a negative COVID-19 PCR test on arrival.
The test must be performed within 72 hours before travel. Coronavirus test results can be in the form on an email or SMS, but the test result must include where and when the test was taken. Children under 12 do not require a test to travel to Cyprus.
The top four destinations – Greece, Spain, France, Italy and the United States – were among those left off the “green list”, angering stricken airlines and holiday companies battling for survival.
Those countries sit in the amber category, requiring self-isolation for those returning to the UK. Turkey, another big holiday destination, was added to a red list.
That requires travellers to spend 10 days in managed hotel quarantine on their return, which they must pay for themselves.
While a legal ban on all non-essential international travel will be lifted for the first time since January, the government said people should still avoid travelling to countries on the amber or red lists for leisure.
