UK-US travel corridor is ‘imperative,’ business chief says

The UK and US should urgently implement reciprocal quarantine-free travel to boost the economic recovery from the pandemic, according to a prominent British business leader. “Opening up the US corridor is imperative as soon as possible,” said Karan Bilimoria, president of the Confederation of British Industry, which represents 190,000 businesses in the UK. The rapid vaccine rollout in both countries means “it should happen as soon as we can,” he said Friday. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to discuss the issue with US President Joe Biden at the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England next week, and officials on both sides of the Atlantic have been in talks. Yet the UK tightened its border rules this week by imposing quarantine on travelers from Portugal, disrupting holidaymakers’ plans and slamming the travel industry. More than half of Britain’s adult population has now received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, while about 40% of the population in the US is fully vaccinated. Nevertheless, the UK continues to be cautious on travel due to fears that new Covid-19 mutations could prove resistant to vaccines. At the same time, the British government is under significant pressure from the airline industry to ease travel restrictions after more than a year of Covid-19 rules has brought the sector to its knees. <br/>