Britons allowed to go abroad during the travel ban face £200 FINES if they fail to get a permit

Travellers face being fined £200 if they turn up at an airport without a new form under a new clampdown on illegal travel.

The Department for Transport announced today that from Monday, people travelling internationally from England will need to complete and carry a Declaration to Travel document downloaded from the Government’s website.

The three-page form asks the traveller to set out their reason for needing to go abroad during the travel ban. 

And the firm warns them they also face fines or even being arrested if they give ‘false or misleading information’. 

Foreign leisure travel is banned until May 17 at the earliest, but essential travel is still permitted for a range of business, education and compassionate reasons.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said that those who failed to produce the form, either on paper or on their phone, faced being barred entry to their flight.

‘Officers will be conducting spot checks and have the power to ask travellers to produce a completed form,’ she said.

‘It will be an offence to fail to produce a completed form and individuals could face a £200 fine.’   

 

Passengers found to be travelling for reasons not permitted face being sent home and fines that ‘start at £200 and ladder up to a maximum of £6,400’.

She added: ‘Carriers will be checking the forms have been completed before boarding, either at check in or at the departure gate. 

‘Passengers who do not have a valid form may be denied access to their booked service. 

‘Carriers will also be legally obliged to set out on their website that the form must be completed before travelling.’  

It comes as Cyprus announced that it will throw open its borders to British holidaymakers who have been fully vaccinated from May 1.

Inoculated Britons will be free to enter the country without needing to have a negative Covid test or quarantine, the Cypriot tourism ministry said last night.

Officials are looking into ways for Britons to prove they have had the vaccine, including an app or letters from doctors, according to The Times.

But those hoping to jet off for the Early May bank holiday are set to be barred by UK authorities because Boris Johnson has said he won’t allow overseas leisure travel until at least May 17.

Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios said on Thursday: ‘We have informed the British government that from May 1 we will facilitate the arrival of British nationals who have been vaccinated … so they can visit Cyprus without a negative test or needing to quarantine.’

More than a million Britons visit each year – more than from any other country – and the tourism industry accounts for 13 per cent of the Cypriot economy.

Arrivals and earnings from the sector plunged on average 85 per cent last year.

Visitors would need to be inoculated with vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, the tourism minister said.

And the second dose of the vaccine must have been administered at least a week before travel, Perdios added.

It comes after neighbouring Greece said it was in discussions with the British government for a vaccine passport to facilitate summer holidays.

Athens said last month it is hoping for a ‘semi-normal’ season and was in talks with officials in London after seeing the stunning progress of Britain’s vaccine roll-out.

The announcement by Cyprus is a massive boost for struggling travel agents who usually rake in bookings for summer holidays at this time of year.