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

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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.’ 

But Henry Smith, the Tory MP for Crawley whose constituency contains Gatwick Aiport, told MailOnline: ‘I don’t see a purpose of such a document and it will even further dissuade people from travelling.

‘I think if people need to travel for essential reasons then charging them £200 for not carrying documents isn’t very appropriate.’

‘I also think it’s concerning we have a government looking to introduce travel permits, something I think is quite alien to the British way of doing things.’  

He added: ‘In terms of travel documents, we all have passports if we’re going to travel internationally or use a driving licence if we’re travelling domestically.

‘So I’m struggling to see the purpose of such a travel permit and I don’t like the precedent it sets from both a civil liberties point of view but also as a further impediment to the aviation industry.’

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency and co-founder of the Save Our Summer campaign, told MailOnline: ‘What on earth is the point? It is yet another layer of complexity for travellers, especially business travellers who are already drowning under the weight of extra Brexit paperwork.

‘It suggest the government doesn’t wish to make Britain global again. It seems very odd to introduce this when the data is suggesting rates are coming down. We should be opening up the country, not locking the doors to stop anyone leaving.’

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’.

The DfT spokeswoman 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.’ 

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: ‘It’s absolutely vital that people do not take unnecessary journeys and it’s right those who do not abide by the rules face consequences. 

‘However, none of this is a replacement for the comprehensive hotel quarantine system that the government should put in place. Instead currently just 1 per cent of arrivals quarantine in hotels.’ 

Nicky Kelvin, director of content at travel experts The Points Guy UK, told MailOnline: ‘On the one hand, these measures could be seen as draconian with the risk of fines being issued to those who are genuinely travelling for essential reasons but simply forgot to fill out the correct form.

‘On the other hand, there are already a number of steps to complete in relation to pandemic travel, such as COVID tests, filling in passenger locator forms and complying with quarantine restrictions.

‘It is clear that these measures are in place to protect against the spread of the virus and therefore it is wholly reasonable that passengers travelling during these times be required to confirm in writing the reasons why their travel is essential, due to both the prevalence and perception of the flouting of rules by some travellers.’ 

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.