British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated in his recent speech that negative test results may be necessary when entering the UK in the future. If the plan is implemented, this should also apply to travelers who have already been vaccinated against Covid-19.

The UK Government is increasingly concerned about the mainland's slow pace of vaccination. Johnson recently suggested that a kind of travel light could be created. Depending on the classification, negative test results are then necessary or not. Alternatively, compulsory testing for all immigrants - including vaccinated people - could be introduced or maintained.

Easyjet boss Johan Lundgren doesn't want to hear about that. In an interview with the BBC, he explicitly warned the Johnson administration against mandatory testing. This would make traveling more complex and, on top of that, drive up costs. Lundgren also criticized the high cost of PCR testing. In many cases, these would be more expensive than short-haul flight tickets.

Test costs should be unaffordable for families

The Easyjet manager was particularly concerned that any test obligations - in extreme cases, both sides - could literally result in family vacations being neglected because the costs for the analyzes should not be affordable for families with normal incomes. As a result, this could have a negative impact on demand.

If the pandemic allows, the part of England wants to allow international travel again from mid-May. The closer this date approaches, the more nervous the Boris Johnson government becomes. The background is likely that the corona situation on the European mainland is currently worse than in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, with the exception of Malta, vaccinations are only progressing very slowly. The UK government now fears that large numbers of infections could be “imported” in the summer. Therefore, one wants to provide a roadmap and is currently examining a classification of the travel countries. But nothing has been decided yet.