US Covid-testing plan aims to open New York-London travel by holidays
US officials are aiming to open travel between New York City and London with shortened traveler quarantine periods as soon as the holidays, according to people familiar with the matter. The growing availability of Covid-19 tests in the US has prompted officials at the DoT, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to revive efforts to establish safe travel corridors between the US and international destinations, the people said. Establishing those routes would require travelers to be tested for Covid-19 before their flight and again upon arrival, allowing them to avoid lengthy quarantines at their destinations. The Trump administration and foreign governments must both agree to the plan, according to one US official familiar with the efforts. A Homeland Security official said the agency’s work to “safely encourage trans-Atlantic travel while mitigating public-health risks” was in its early stages. Federal officials have recently focused their talks with their UK counterparts, and discussions have also involved German officials, people familiar with the matter said. Limited availability of testing in the US earlier this year and long wait times for test results stalled previous efforts to open international travel. Many airline executives say it will take a proven and widely available vaccine to make fliers comfortable and return flying to 2019 levels. Airlines currently mandate that passengers wear masks and have ramped up cabin cleaning. Eventually, “proof of a vaccination will replace proof of a negative test result” as a travel-must, said Aaron McMillan, United Airlines’s managing director of operations policy and support.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-10-12/general/us-covid-testing-plan-aims-to-open-new-york-london-travel-by-holidays
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US Covid-testing plan aims to open New York-London travel by holidays
US officials are aiming to open travel between New York City and London with shortened traveler quarantine periods as soon as the holidays, according to people familiar with the matter. The growing availability of Covid-19 tests in the US has prompted officials at the DoT, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to revive efforts to establish safe travel corridors between the US and international destinations, the people said. Establishing those routes would require travelers to be tested for Covid-19 before their flight and again upon arrival, allowing them to avoid lengthy quarantines at their destinations. The Trump administration and foreign governments must both agree to the plan, according to one US official familiar with the efforts. A Homeland Security official said the agency’s work to “safely encourage trans-Atlantic travel while mitigating public-health risks” was in its early stages. Federal officials have recently focused their talks with their UK counterparts, and discussions have also involved German officials, people familiar with the matter said. Limited availability of testing in the US earlier this year and long wait times for test results stalled previous efforts to open international travel. Many airline executives say it will take a proven and widely available vaccine to make fliers comfortable and return flying to 2019 levels. Airlines currently mandate that passengers wear masks and have ramped up cabin cleaning. Eventually, “proof of a vaccination will replace proof of a negative test result” as a travel-must, said Aaron McMillan, United Airlines’s managing director of operations policy and support.<br/>
