US borders have been largely shut since March 2020
As the end of summer nears, it looks increasingly unlikely that the UK–UStravel corridor will open in the short term.
According to reports, the US will not lift any current travel restrictions “at this point” because of concerns about the rapidly spreading Covid-19 Delta variant and rising coronavirus cases in the country.
Travel between the UK and the US has been frozen since March 2020, thanks to a series of presidential proclamations, while the US is on the UK’s amber list of countries, requiring a 10-day quarantine when returning to the UK and two post-arrival PCR tests.
This morning policing minister Kit Malthouse said it is “disappointing” that no travel corridor with the US is currently available.
Mr Malthouse told Sky News: “Obviously that is for them to assess and we are assessing the likelihood of variants coming in from other countries as well. So, it doesn’t surprise me that they are doing similar. It is obviously disappointing.”
“I am afraid that the tail-end of this virus, and lets hope it is the tail-end, we are still coping with some of that uncertainty across the world and people will have to bear that in mind as they decide their travel plans or otherwise.”
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US travel industry body dismayed over travel curbs
The travel industry is dismayed over the decision to uphold US travel restrictions.
Tori Emerson Barnes, US Travel Association executive vice president of public affairs and policy, said:
Covid variants are of concern, but closed borders have not prevented the Delta variant from entering the U.S. while vaccinations are proving incredibly durable to the virus’ evolution. This is why America’s travel industry is a vocal proponent of everyone getting a vaccine—it’s the surest and fastest path to normalcy for everyone.
While other nations, like Canada, the UK and much of the EU, have all taken steps to welcome inbound travellers this summer and rebuild jobs and local economies, the United States remains closed to one of the most important segments of the travel economy—the international inbound traveler.
Given the high rates of vaccination on both sides of the Atlantic, it is possible to begin safely welcoming back vaccinated visitors from these crucial inbound markets.
We respectfully urge the Biden administration to revisit its decision in the very near term and begin reopening international travel to vaccinated individuals, starting with air corridors between the US and nations with similar vaccination rates.
Everything we know about when the US-UK travel corridor might open
As hopes fade for a US-UK travel corridor this summer, here is everything we know about when travel between the two nations might reopen:
