US/UK: President Joe Biden has confirmed that fully vaccinated UK and EU travellers will be allowed to travel to the US from November.
The White House has confirmed that it will lift the 18 month ban on international travel, first introduced by Donald Trump at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Under the current regime, only American citizens and their families, along with green card holders can enter the US. Most non-US citizens who have been in the UK and a number of other countries including China, India and South Africa within the last 14 days are barred.
As part of the new rules which are coming into force from November, travellers entering the US will need to demonstrate proof of vaccination before flying and obtain a negative Covid-19 result within three days of travelling. There will be no requirement to quarantine.
Americans who are not fully vaccinated will still be able to enter however will need to be tested before their arrival in the US and again after landing.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has welcomed the announcement, writing on Twitter: “It’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again.”
President and CEO of the US Travel Association, Roger Dow, said: “The US Travel Association applauds the Biden administration’s announcement of a roadmap to reopen air travel to vaccinated individuals from around the world, which will help revive the American economy and protect public health. This is a major turning point in the management of the virus and will accelerate the recovery of the millions of travel-related jobs that have been lost due to international travel restrictions.”
Since the announcement, British Airways has reported that searches for trips to the US spiked. The company said in a statement: “In the hours following reports around the reopening of the US-UK travel corridor this November, British Airways Holidays saw an increase of nearly 700 per cent in searches for holidays to key US destinations compared to the same time last week.These included New York, Orlando, Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles and Boston.”
Virgin Atlantic also reported that bookings hit 91 per cent within just an hour of the announcement.
