PARIS: France will on Friday (Jan 14) ease coronavirus travel restrictions for travellers from Britain, enabling vaccinated tourists to visit if they have a negative test, the government announced.
A blanket ban on non-essential travel announced on Dec 16 caused major disruptions over the Christmas and New Year holidays, but was justified by the French government as needed to keep the spread of the Omicron variant at bay.
“The wide circulation today of the variant in both countries has led the government to make the following changes,” a statement from Jean Castex’s office said.
From Friday, all vaccinated travellers entering France from the UK will only have to show a negative PCR or antigen test taken 24 hours before their departure.
The unvaccinated will have to provide a “compelling reason” to travel such as a family emergency, however, and have to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival in France at an address that must be registered with security forces.
The opening of the border will allow thousands of winter-sports enthusiasts to head to the French Alps, which are popular with British skiers who had to cancel holidays booked over the Christmas and New Year period.
“We’re very relieved and very happy to get operational again, starting this weekend,” Alex Sykes, flight operations manager at the UK-based Mark Warner travel operator, told AFP.
“We’re hoping this is the last of the disruptions this winter season.”
The curbs over Christmas meant all of the company’s French ski holidays were cancelled and “a big business period was lost,” he added.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride for nearly two years now.”
