Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen Airport calls for Scotland to copy England on travel rules

Aberdeen Airport wants the Scottish Government to follow England in relaxing travel rules.

Aberdeen Airport bosses have urged the Scottish Government to follow England by relaxing travel rules.

Pre-departure tests for travellers arriving in England will be scrapped from Friday in a boost for those planning winter breaks.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the changes during a Commons statement on Wednesday.

He also told MPs the requirement for travellers to self-isolate on arrival until they receive a negative PCR test is being dropped.

Instead, the rules will revert to the system in place in October.

Travellers will be required to take a lateral flow test no later than the end of day two after their arrival.

The travel industry is hopeful the change to the rules south of the border will lead to a boost for those planning winter breaks or booking summe holidays.

However, airports in Scotland want clarity on the situation north of the border.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday that discussions were taking place about “possible changes to travel rules”.

In a later interview with Deputy First Minister John Swinney on BBC Drivetime, he acknowledged there are some “material issues about the fact that if people can fly into English airports they are obviously free to travel into Scotland”.

An announcement on any changes to travel rules is expected this afternoon.

‘Hammer blow’

A spokesman for AGS Airports Ltd, which owns Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton Airports, described travel restrictions introduced last month as a “hammer blow to both our recovery and passenger confidence, which until that point had slowly been returning”.

He added: “In light of the Prime Minister’s decision to scrap pre-departure testing we urgently need the Scottish Government do the same and adopt a four nations approach to prevent Scotland’s connectivity from falling further behind.

“These restrictions significantly impact our industry and the thousands of people it employs.

“We need governments to start planning now for the meaningful recovery of international travel and the vital connectivity it delivers for the country.”

The new rules only apply to those who are fully vaccinated or aged under 18.

Tougher rules were originally introduced following the identification of the fast-spreading Omicron variant in South Africa last November.

The relaxed rules apply to anyone who is fully vaccinated, which is currently defined as having had two shots. This could soon be tightened to include a booster dose, and those under 18 will also benefit from the rule change.

Unvaccinated arrivals must still take a pre-departure test and quarantine at home for 10 days with further tests on days two and eight.

In Wales, health minister Eluned Morgan said they would be “reluctantly” following suit.

Deputy First Minister and Covid-19 Recovery Secretary John Swinney.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Thursday, Mr Swinney confirmed the Scottish Government is “considering the announcements that have been made by the prime minister” and would “update parliament as quickly as we have come to conclusions”.

He added: “Obviously there are some material issues about the fact that if people can fly into English airports they are obviously free to travel into Scotland so there is a question of the alignment of the rules that exist between Scotland and England on these particular occasions, but ministers will consider the points that have been announced by the prime minister and make our announcement shortly.”