Airlines fear the purgatory facing those wishing to hop across the Atlantic could last until Thanksgiving in late-November, extending the tacit ban well past 18 months.
Elsewhere, there is brighter news in the form of broad agreement that few – if any – immediately popular destinations will fall onto the UK’s red list, and renewed worries about how the UK’s PCR test data is being used.
These are the key headlines affecting travel on Tuesday (24 August).
US travel ban ‘to continue’, airlines fear
The US could maintain its ban on UK travellers until Thanksgiving on November 25, airlines fear. A carrier is this week expected to postpone plans to launch scheduled services from London to New York from September until November amid concerns there are no signs of any imminent lifting of the ban. (The Telegraph)
PCR test records ‘inaccurate’
A large proportion of Covid tests on arrivals from overseas fail to record where the traveller has come from, new figures reveal. The information from PCR tests is used to determine which countries should be classified as red, amber or green. An analysis of nearly 750,000 tests found only 560,000 recorded the arrival country. (The Daily Mail)
Major destinations set to remain on amber list
Spain, Greece and France are set to remain on the UK’s amber travel list when the government announces its review on Thursday. Covid cases in Spain are falling and vaccine rates catching up with the UK, making changes to the traffic light system unlikely, analysts say. (The Sun)
Branson teams up with Boeing
Boeing will become an investor in Sir Richard Branson’s satellite launch company Virgin Orbit when it goes public, in a merger that values it at more than $3 billion. Virgin Orbit is a spin-off from Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism venture. (City AM)
