Calls for crowding at UK airports to be reduced
British politicians are calling on the government to upgrade e-passport gates to reduce crowds of international travellers at UK airports
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus said it would help reduce queuing at arrival halls – an essential move as mass travelling commences.
Members of Parliament (MP) also urged the government to consider Covid ‘green passes’ which would reduce the need for paper documentation and asked that it contemplates introducing a VAT exemption or price cap on the cost of Covid tests.
Covid cases slipping through the cracks
“The rapid growth of the Delta variant has shown how we must be vigilant against the risks posed by international travel,” Caroline Lucas, the group's Vice Chair told The Independent. "Yet despite repeated warnings, ministers are still failing to address overcrowding at airports or fake test certificates that are allowing Covid cases to slip through the cracks.”
The group of MPs believe that upgrading e-gates and tightening the digital test result process would in turn ‘reduce the risk of transmission in airports and ensure we are no longer relying solely on Border Force officials to spot fraudulent documents’.
The calls come after travellers have reported long queues and overcrowding at some UK airports while the government has been criticised for allowing people from high-risk countries to mix with those from low-risk countries.
Layla Moran, the APPG’s chair, said: “Any digital Covid green pass for international travel should include test results in addition to vaccination status to better defend against new variants. The government must not yet again allow international travel to jeopardise the hard-won progress we’ve made against the virus.”
Citizens with European Union, Swiss, Australian, Canadian, Japanese, New Zealand, Singaporean, South Korean and United States passports can use e-passport gates, provided that they are aged either 12 or over and hold valid biometric passports.
Meanwhile, the majority of Europeans expect to travel abroad this summer according to latest research by the Ipsos Travel Barometer.