A ten-day trial jointly organised by Heathrow, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic has demonstrated that internationally recognised vaccination statuses can be checked quickly and easily away from the border to allow safe entry to the UK.

The trial involved around 250 fully vaccinated voluntary participants on flights from the USA, the Caribbean and Europe to Heathrow who presented their Covid-19 vaccination status in digital or paper format. The trial showed that 99 per cent of credentials were correctly verified.

The companies said the trial ¡°successfully proves that airlines and airports can very effectively check a wider range of recognised vaccination statuses for different nationalities ¨C in both paper and digital format ¨C at the point of departure and away from the UK Border, ensuring no further pressure in immigration halls¡±.

Under the UK¡¯s current rules, travellers arriving from countries on the government¡¯s amber list need to have been fully vaccinated as part of the UK¡¯s vaccination programme in order to avoid self-isolation. But this policy excludes travellers who have been fully vaccinated anywhere else in the world.

Anonymised results of the trial have been shared with the UK Government ahead of its next review of the traffic light system which is due by 31 July.

Sean Doyle, British Airways¡¯ CEO and chairman, said: ¡°We are confident that this proving trial provides the evidence the Government needs to allow fully vaccinated customers from low-risk countries to enter the UK, knowing it¡¯s possible to do so smoothly and safely. The UK needs to safely re-open its borders as soon as possible to ensure loved ones can reunite, business can thrive and Global Britain is able to take advantage of the UK¡¯s world-leading vaccination programme.¡±

Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic said: ¡°The UK is already falling behind the US and EU and a continued overly cautious approach towards international travel will further impact economic recovery and the 500,000 UK jobs that are at stake. We urge the UK Government to move the US to the UK¡¯s green list and for the exemption from self-isolation to be extended to all fully vaccinated passengers with WHO-recognised vaccines, beginning with the US and EU.¡±

John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow said: ¡°The vaccine has been a miracle of science, and these trials have shown that we can allow fully vaccinated passengers from the EU and US to visit the UK without quarantine. There is now no reason to delay with rolling out the solution from 31 July.¡±