UK – US flights to resume from 8 November after 19-month ban

15 October 2021, 15:15 | Updated: 16 October 2021, 00:01

Travel between the UK and US will resume from early November.

It has been confirmed the US-imposed travel ban, which has lasted 19 months amid the coronavirus pandemic, will be scrapped from 8 November.

Only fully-vaccinated Britons will be able to travel.

Travel industry bosses immediately welcomed the announcement as a "pivotal moment".

Previously, anyone without US citizenship was barred from travelling to the US if they had been in the UK in the past 14 days.

This also stretched to countries including Ireland, as well as many EU nations and India.

But White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz wrote on Twitter today: "The US' new travel policy that requires vaccination for foreign national travellers to the United States will begin on 8 November.

"This announcement and date applies to both international air travel and land travel. This policy is guided by public health, stringent, and consistent."

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The new policy was announced last month, but it was not previously known when in November it would be implemented.

The lifting of the travel ban is a major boost for the UK's struggling airlines, airports and travel firms.

British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle said: "Nearly 600 days since the introduction of the US travel ban, this is a pivotal moment for the entire travel industry."

Shai Weiss, his counterpart at Virgin Atlantic, said it will enable the UK to "strengthen ties with our most important economic partner, the US".