As US-UK Travel Increases, Airlines Need Restrictions Eliminated

As travel between the United States and the United Kingdom picks up, stakeholders on both sides of the ocean – particularly airlines – are hoping that the travel ban preventing U.K. citizens from coming to the U.S. is lifted by this fall.

The ban enacted by the United States on English travelers has been in place since March of 2020. Many were hoping that once the U.K. had lifted its own restrictions that the U.S. would follow, especially by the summer.

Now they hope the ban will be removed by sometime between September and November.

A spokesperson for London’s Heathrow airport told Forbes Magazine that, “with fully vaccinated U.S. visitors now able to travel to the U.K. without the need to quarantine, the joint U.K./U.S. travel taskforce must capitalize on the U.K.’s world-leading vaccine rollout and reach a reciprocal agreement for fully vaccinated U.K. travelers.”

Officials in England have been somewhat buoyed by the fact that travel from the U.S. to the U.K. has picked up, especially with JetBlue Airways joining the fray with a flight from New York to London – and hoping for more in what is arguably one of the most lucrative routes in the world.

Forbes noted that passengers traveling from North America to London increased by 230 percent during July, with the most popular route being New York’s JFK airport to Heathrow – s it used to be, pre-pandemic. In addition, more Americans have been able to travel to the U.K. since August 2, provided they are fully vaccinated (they can still travel if not, but must enter a 10-day quarantine upon arrival).

There are now a possible 28 flights a day running between London and New York.