The British Are Coming! America Reopens The Border Today (For The Double-Vaxxed)
The land of the free (for now) just reopened the most lucrative air corridor in the world, flights between London to New York are back on so grab your cowboy boots and stetson and prepare to reacquaint yourself with the least friendly border security after North Korea! We’re going to America, baby!
In a long-awaited move, President Biden announced last month that flights between the two countries could re-start in November, and (in time for Thanksgiving) today is the day earmarked for the much-needed travel to recommence.
With UK vaccination numbers among the best in the world (And well above American levels) it has long felt a little extreme to continue to ban UK entry to the country, particularly given the extent of trans-Atlantic trade between the two countries, but from 05:00 this morning the ban was lifted and at 08:50 the first flights departed Heathrow.
From 05:00 this morning the ban was lifted and at 08:50 the first flights departed Heathrow...
Unusually, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic called a truce in their decades-long feud to mark the event with a simultaneous take-off, with JFK flights from both airlines taking off from the airport’s 27L and 27R runways. Both companies, which have not run flights for 600 days on the route, have put up Airbus A350-1000s, with the BA flight carrying the flight number BA00001, Concorde’s flagship flight number.
It’s a big moment, British Airways alone earned over $1bn (yup, with a ‘b’) in revenue from the London New York route in the year before the pandemic.
Travellers aged over 18 will require double vaccination, and the list of vaccines proscribed are thankfully inclusive of vaccines available in the UK but not yet approved in the US. Namely the AstraZeneva/Oxford drug.
British Airways alone earned over $1bn (yup, with a 'b') in revenue from the London New York route...
As well as being double jabbed, travellers will have to provide proof of either a negative Covid test result or demonstrate that they’ve recovered from the virus in the previous three months.
In yet another ‘life’s going back to normal’ moment, it’s a relief to once again have access to one of our favourite holiday destinations. America, we’ll be there as soon as we can!
The US’ new travel policy that requires vaccination for foreign national travelers to the United States will begin on Nov 8. This announcement and date applies to both international air travel and land travel. This policy is guided by public health, stringent, and consistent. https://t.co/uaDiVrjtqi
— Kevin Munoz (@KMunoz46) October 15, 2021
