US to lift the UK and Europe Travel Ban

The US will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated arrivals from the UK and EU in early November, the White House has confirmed.

Non-US travellers will be required to show proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 as part of the new rules. They will also have to provide evidence of having tested negative for Covid-19 up to 87 hours prior to departure.

 

Unvaccinated arrivals will likely be subject to additional testing requirements, the White House has intimated.

 

White House Covid coordinator Jeffrey Zients confirmed early details of the US’s travel plan to national press outlets in the US on Monday afternoon (20 September).

 

The move will bring to an end what will by November be a 20-month ban on most travel to the US for non-US citizens. The ban was originally introduced by the Trump administration on 17 March 2020 in the early stages of the Covid crisis.

 

Prime minister Boris Johnson travelled to the US on Monday to discuss international travel arrangements with US president Joe Biden.

The World Travel and Tourism Council said the readmission of UK visitors to the US was a vital move.

 

Julia Simpson, WTTC president and chief executive, said: “The UK alone represents 8% of all inbound travel to the US, accounting for $40 million per day to the nation’s economy.

“WTTC has long been calling for the US to reopen and our research shows that by opening its borders to key markets such as the UK, it will pump $198 million back into the US economy every single day.”

Proof of how much the US ban has affected the UK travel industry is underlined by stats from Cirium.

 

They show that from 1 January to 19 September this year, the major airlines flew 8,380 one-way flights across the Atlantic, a 76% drop on the same period in 2019, which saw more than 35,000.

 

The ban led to the demise of Norwegian’s long-haul arm and led Virgin Atlantic to go running to the banks to seek refinancing. It also saw BA permanently axe two US routes, including Charleston.

 

The ban also meant the long-awaited debut of JetBlue’s transatlantic services was more low key, with the New York carrier launching Heathrow-JFK in August and immediately paring back its schedule.

 

JetBlue’s Gatwick launch, on 29 September will also be scaled back, with four flights a week, but the announcement from Washington is timely for the carrier.

 

The reopening will also boost new airline Norse Atlantic Airways, which had gambled on a relaxation of restrictions by early 2022 when Norse will use some of Norwegian’s former fleet to start US flights from Gatwick.

 

Before the announcement, tour operators had reported pent-up demand for the US, but mostly for 2022 and beyond, so the news will only add fuel to demand for next year. In the near term, the relatively small market for winter sports in the US will receive a boost, as will Caribbean cruise departures from Miami.

Britain To Build A ‘National Flagship’ To Promote Maritime Trade

A mocked-up image of what the new flagship might look like. Photo via Downing Street

Britain is to build a new flagship to promote its business and trade interests around the world, the government said on Saturday, in a move it said would also boost the ailing shipbuilding industry.

Britain said the ship, once built, would host high-level trade negotiations and trade shows, and the cost of the project would be confirmed once manufacturing contracts were tendered.

“This new national flagship will be the first vessel of its kind in the world, reflecting the UK’s burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

The government said it would be the first national flagship since HMY (Her Majesty’s Yacht) Britannia was decommissioned in 1997.

A flagship to promote global trade has long been advocated by proponents of Brexit, who highlight the possibilities for new free trade agreements now Britain has left the European Union.

Critics, however, point to disruption to trade with the EU, Britain’s biggest export market, following the country’s departure from the EU’s orbit at the start of the year. There has also been an impact on intra-UK trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

The government said the name of the ship would be announced in due course. The Sunday Telegraph reported this month it would be named after Queen Elizabeth’s late husband Prince Philip.

The government has set March 17 as the earliest date from which international travel could resume.

Courts referred to travel restarting “at some point after May 17”. Asked by the committee to explain, he said: “I understand the requirement for as much certainty as possible. At this stage, it would be premature to be too precise. We do need to work through some really quite complicated issues.

“We have said there won’t be any travel before May 17 and we’ll look at travel restarting as soon as possible after that.”

He insisted: “We don’t yet understand the extent to which vaccinations reduce transmission and every country will need to be happy with any system used.

“The second point is new variants. We have to guard against these. The science is still catching up.”

Courts argued: “We had the earlier Global Travel Taskforce but a number of things have changed. It’s critical we take stock and work closely with all our sector colleagues to make progress.

“All you are hearing from other countries is an intention to do something.”

He told MPs: “We’re looking at a suite of factors, building on the suite of measures already in place. We would like to see travel facilitated in a way that is smoother, in a way that uses technology. I expect to see a suite of measures.”

Asked whether people can be confident to book summer holidays, Courts said: “We’ve seen this is an unpredictable virus. It is not possible to predict. It isn’t possible to tell individuals or families what to do.

“I suggest what people have to do is give themselves options, give themselves flexibility, look at booking terms, look at insurance.”

He confirmed the task force report would go to the Prime Minister for consideration before its recommendations are made public.

Courts said: “We will be laying out a plan in April and then looking to operationalize that. April 12 will be the date we report back to the Prime Minister. We then have a process of looking at the recommendations.”

He argued: “The date we should be concerned about is the date people are due to travel.

“The evidence looks promising but we want to make sure what is in place is sustainable. We have to be slightly cautious at the moment. This has to be robust.”

Royal Caribbean offers to give Parliament the horn

Royal Caribbean offers to give Parliament the horn

The Queen Elizabeth Tower holds the Big Ben Bell.

Royal Caribbean has offered up one of its ship’s horns to be played from Parliament Square after it was announced Big Ben would be silenced for four years.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has written to Speaker of The House of Commons, John Bercow MP, offering to adapt one of its horns to strike every hour to the note of E – accompanied by four quarter blasts every 15 minutes.

Yesterday, the House of Commons said it would look again at the length of time Big Ben will be silenced during renovation work after “concerns” were raised.

The bell is to be put out of use – except for special occasions – for four years on Monday to allow repairs to the surrounding Elizabeth Tower.

But Prime Minister Theresa May said “it can’t be right” that the famous bongs will not be heard again until 2021.

The letter from Royal Caribbean reads: “Having chimed – almost – unbroken for the past 157 years, we’ve heard The Great Bell will be out of action for four years and were compelled to try and help.

“Rather than leave the capital in silence, the Royal Caribbean team have put in a word with our UK and Ireland managing director, Ben Bouldin (the other Big Ben), and he would be more than happy to lend you one of our ship’s horns until 2021 to play from Parliament Square. To keep as close as possible to our great traditions, we could specially adapt our horn to strike every hour to the note of E – accompanied by four quarter blasts every 15 minutes.

“Let us know if this floats your boat (ship)…”