Recently updated on August 31st, 2022 at 04:17 pm
‘Air corridor’ is a term that has quickly entered the 2020 lexicon, and now it seems the latest corridor to open up could be between New York and London, giving hope to many that trans-Atlantic travel could be a possibility by Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The possibility of an NY / London travel corridor was discussed by British and US authorities earlier this year, however has picked up momentum in recent weeks as Thanksgiving and Christmas draw ever closer. Thanksgiving will take place on the 26 November, and usually sees vast numbers of travellers flying both domestically and internationally as they take advantage of the days off work.
Under these new plans, travellers would be required to test for Covid-19 both before their flight and upon arrival, so as to avoid the need to quarantine. Currently US travellers are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arriving into the UK. Travel from the UK to Europe to the US is currently not permitted, unless those travelling are US citizens or permanent residents. Should this new travel corridor be approved, testing will be mandatory, the cost of which will likely be paid by the traveller.
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A Homeland Security official said that the agency’s work to “safely encourage trans-Atlantic travel while mitigating public health risks” was in the early stages, but there is definitely huge appetite for the plans to go ahead from both UK and US officials.
Currently, US travellers are extremely limited as to where they can visit in Europe without the need to quarantine. Croatia and Turkey are currently welcoming US visitors, while Malta is also accepting Americans but only if they are not flying directly from the US, and have spent 14 days in one of their accepted countries prior to entry.
Aside from Europe, US travellers can also fly to Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and the Caribbean without the need to quarantine – as long as they have tested negative for Covid-19 before arriving.
While many will still feel it is too early to start thinking about international travel, the tide is certainly turning for others. According to Google Trends, ‘Can I travel?’ is now trending higher as a search term than ‘Should I travel?’, indicating the impatience and desire many of us are now experiencing to get back out and there and explore the world. Should this new travel corridor open up, we can only hope that this paves the way for further corridors both in the US and across the globe.