Fully jabbed Britons can fly to US next month as Biden lifts 18-month ban
Airlines celebrate ‘fantastic news’ but questions remain over which vaccines will be accepted
THE US is to reopen transatlantic flights with Britain on Nov 8 as Joe Biden lifts the 18-month ban on UK travellers.
The move was confirmed by Kevin Munoz, the White House press aide who said the new policy would open air and land borders to international travel after they were closed by Donald Trump at the start of the pandemic last year.
The Biden administration announced last month that passengers who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 would be able to fly to the US from anywhere in the world from next month.
But in the past few weeks there have been hints from administration officials that the scale of the pandemic in parts of America could delay it until Thanksgiving at the end of November.
Last week, Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said he remained optimistic that it could restart in early November and had been reassured about this by the US administration.
His confidence has been confirmed with yesterday’s announcement. Travellers will have to show proof of having been fully vaccinated and a negative test taken in the previous three days, starting in early November.
They will also have to wear a mask for the journey and share their telephone number and email address for contact tracing.
Questions remain about how the vaccine checks will work including whether the US will implement a passport programme or recognise vaccines not approved by its Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). Millions of Britons have taken the Astrazeneca vaccine not recognised by the US.
Since last year, people without US citizenship, green cards or specific exemptions have been banned from travelling to the US if they have been in the UK, Ireland, the Schengen area, China, India, Iran, South Africa or Brazil in the previous 14 days.
Boris Johnson and President Biden agreed to set up a joint task force to restart travel when they met at the G7 summit in Cornwall in June although the Prime Minister told colleagues that the US president appeared “very reluctant” to reboot flights.
In a bid to reinvigorate travel, the UK then announced that fully jabbed Americans can come to the UK without having to quarantine but the US had yet to reciprocate.
Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of Airlines UK, said yesterday’s announcement was “fantastic news”.
“The huge importance of the US as a UK travel destination simply cannot be overstated, with millions of Brits prepandemic travelling for holidays, for business trips worth billions to our economy and to reunite with friends and family,” he said.
“Without the US being open there simply could never be a proper recovery for UK aviation. Alongside bringing in cheaper tests for half-term and the cut in the red list, this news caps perhaps the most positive week for UK airlines since the pandemic began.”
The London-new York route accounted for nearly 1,900 flights a month in 2019, accounting for more than 114 million seats, according to aviation research firm Cirium data. The lockdowns saw it collapse to just five per cent of that.
Sean Doyle, British Airways chief executive, said: “Nearly 600 days since the introduction of the US travel ban, this is a pivotal moment for the entire travel industry and finally provides the certainty we have so desperately needed.
“We can’t wait to welcome our customers back on board and reconnect friends and families across the Atlantic, rebuild US-UK business relationships and reclaim Britain’s position as a leader on the global stage.”
Shai Weiss, his counterpart at Virgin Atlantic, said: “The UK will now be able to strengthen ties with our most important economic partner, boosting trade and tourism as well as reuniting friends, families and business colleagues.”
The change affects 33 countries whose nationals are currently banned from travelling to the US, including China, India, Brazil and much of Europe.
On Thursday, President Biden announced that US borders are to be opened to travellers from Canada and Mexico. The “land travellers” will need to show proof of vaccination but will not need to show a Covid-19 test.
It comes a day after the Government scrapped PCR tests for double-jabbed travellers and replaced them with cheaper lateral flow swabs, saving a family of four up to £200.