Major new travel rule could add hundreds to cost of your holiday

International travel amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is already complex. Now one country has made entry even more expensive for families.

Travellers to the UK aged 12 and over will now be required to have a pre-departure Covid test, with the changes meaning families could be slugged with hundreds added to a group holiday.

The changes have been brought in due to growing concern over the Omicron variant.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Health Secretary Sajid Javid decided on the new travel measures after Omicron cases were found in 40 countries, with the rules set for review on December 18, The Sun reports.

Yesterday, the government added Nigeria to the Red List and today they have introduced mandatory pre-departure Covid tests for all travellers aged 12 and over coming into the UK.

Pre-departure tests vary in cost depending on location, but usually cost from around $80 up to $300 in Australia, adding hundreds to the cost of a family trip.

Travellers over 12 will now be required to have a negative test to enter the UK.

Changes to UK travel regulations

Currently, to get into the UK, anyone wishing to travel from countries and territories not on the Red List must show proof of a negative PCR or lateral flow pre-departure test, taken no earlier than 48 hours before departure.

This now applies to vaccinated passengers and children aged 12 and above.

You must also complete a Covid test within two days of arriving in England, which has to be booked before you travel, and complete a passenger locator form.

You must self-isolate until you get the result of your second Covid test.

There is now an extra cost when heading to the UK. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Andrew Henshaw

Children aged four and under do not have to take any Covid-19 travel tests.

From today, children aged 12 to 17 must take a PCR or lateral flow test within the two days before travel to England.

Children aged 5 to 17 also have to follow the testing and quarantine rules for people who qualify as fully vaccinated on arrival in England.

This means that they have to quarantine on arrival and take a PCR test on or before day two.

This article originally appeared The Sun and has been republished with permission