Fully vaccinated Britons will no longer be required to undergo Covid tests in order to travel to France, opening up travel between the countries as the half-term holidays get under way.
Children under 12 are exempt from testing and vaccination requirements.
Guillaume Bazard, the French consul-general in London, announced the change to the rules on Twitter. He wrote: “As of 12 February, tests will no longer be necessary for travellers with a complete vaccination schedule traveling from the UK to France. Our website will be updated as soon as further details are published.”
The relaxation of travel rules had been hinted at earlier in the week, with France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, suggesting that the requirement was likely to be dropped soon.
Before the announcement, people travelling to France from outside the EU, including from the UK, were required to present a negative Covid test result from the previous 48 hours, regardless of vaccination status.
The change means jabbed holidaymakers travelling between the UK and France do not need to test on either end of their journey, after Britain ended its testing requirement for fully vaccinated arrivals at 4am on Friday.
At present, passengers are not required to have had a booster dose to count as fully vaccinated, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has previously said.
Under-18s will continue to be treated as eligible double vaccinated passengers but Shapps has said that 12- to 15-year-olds would be able to prove their vaccination status via the digital NHS pass for international outbound travel.
France, where people are asked show a Covid passe sanitaire to enter most public spaces in the country, requires vaccinated travellers to have received their last dose within the past nine months.
The move follows Spain easing its travel rules for British passengers aged 12 to 17. Teenagers who have not received two jabs are not presently allowed to enter the country, but will be allowed in from 14 February with a negative PCR test.
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