Passenger Locator Form must be scrapped

Today, Henry Smith MP, Chair of the APPG for the Future of Aviation has written to the Prime Minister urging him to scrap the passenger locator form.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Prime Minister

As the Chair of the APPG for the Future of Aviation, I am writing to you regarding the continued operation of the Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form, which all travellers arriving in Britain are still required to complete. 

Whilst we welcome the fact that the recent relaxation of travel restrictions has made the UK one of the most open countries in Europe, we believe that more needs to be done to remove the final restrictions on international travel which continue to dampen consumer confidence and sector recovery. 

As we are sure you are aware, throughout the pandemic, the travel, aviation, and tourism industries have suffered devastating losses, and have been subject to a myriad of rules that have left them recording historically low passenger numbers. 

As you yourself have touched upon both inside and out of Parliament, it is precisely thanks to our world-beating Covid-19 vaccination and booster programmes that businesses across the UK are finally returning to normality. However, it is yet again the case, that the aviation, travel and tourism industries are the only left with any form of restrictions placed on them. Our travel, aviation and tourism sectors are crucial to the UK’s long-term recovery, and so it is vital to remove any and all remaining obstacles to their recovery. 

There is no doubt that many families and individuals across the UK will have been dissuaded this half-term from booking holidays abroad, because of the unnecessary burden and caused by the passenger locator form.

As part of the strategy for living with Covid, it is essential that our aviation, travel, and tourism sectors do not remain the only industry with restrictions and as such, I urge you to remove the passenger locator form to allow people both within the UK and around the world to fly again without facing unnecessary and frustrating rules and procedures that are no longer fit for purpose or necessary. 

This move should be a part of a concerted effort to help these vital sectors to UK economic growth recover from the pandemic.

Yours sincerely

Henry Smith MP

Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Future of Aviation