The United States is finally reopening to British travellers after almost two years of heavy restrictions — but for the most part they must be double-vaccinated.
Flights under the liberalised regime recommenced at 5 a.m. on November 8th, with some limited exceptions made for certain un-jabbed passengers — younger children and minors, for example, although over-twos will be required to take Covid tests.
Vaccinated Americans were already able to travel to and from the United Kingdom, with the long delay in reciprocation having caused friction between Boris Johnson’s government as the Joe Biden administration in D.C.
Britain’s Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, said it was a “significant moment” given transatlantic flights had “long been at the heart of UK aviation”.
His public profile for the occasion has been lower than it might have been, however, as he is currently recovering from minor facial surgery following a bicycle accident over the weekend.
“Transatlantic connectivity is vital for the UK’s economic recovery, which is why we’ve been calling for the safe reopening of the UK-U.S. travel corridor for such a long time,” said Sean Doyle, chief executive of British Airways, hailing the development as cause for celebration after “more than 600 days of separation” in comments reported by the Evening Standard.
“We must now look forward with optimism, get trade and tourism back on track and allow friends and families to connect once again,” he added.
Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss concurred, saying that America had “been our heartland for more than 37 years” and that the airline was “simply not Virgin without the Atlantic.”
“We’ve been steadily ramping up flying to destinations including Boston, New York, Orlando, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and we can’t wait to fly our customers safely to their favourite U.S. cities to reconnect with loved ones and colleagues,” Weiss added.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.