Air travel experts are freaking out when US will reopen

Travel experts are slamming the Biden Administration s failure to set up a time to air travel in the US by vaccinated travellers.

The White House extended the plans to reopen USA to foreign air travellers on 20 September and announced the plans to include the vaccination of the US s southern and northern border ports of entry on Tuesday. Since mid-March 2020, most mandatory travel to the United States was prohibited, when then-President Donald Trump announced that he would be closing America s borders to all but foreign travel in hopes of stemming the spread of the Covid pandemic.

However, while the White House says travellers will be able to enter the United States after a full dose of one of seven World Health Organisation-approved Covid vaccines upon proving they ve been vaccinated beginning in early November, administration officials have so far refused to indicate when the new protocols take effect.

We called able to have this in the coming days, a White House official told The Independent as a reaction to a question on when America's borders will reopen. Another suggested that the date would be around November second, probably around the 2nd week of November.

Asked about when travelers could expect to be allowed to enter the US during an appearance on CNBC, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg replied: We want this to be done as soon as possible and we re looking toward that November goal The lack of a date certain for lifting travel ban has been a point of contention between the US and European Union countries, the latter of which have allowed vaccinated Americans to enter some time. The lack of certainty has exacerbated the pain caused by more than a year of closed borders, particularly for those who have been yearning to visit family they ve not been seen throughout the pandemic.

The Independent travel correspondent Simon Calder said the White House's lack of candour on when travel to the US can resume in earnest has been extremely stressful for travellers, particularly those who are desperate to see loved ones in the USA, as well as airline executives looking to maximise the use of expensive aircraft and allocate resources such as fuel and personnel.

They could find flights in the hope that rules will be changed on 1 November, as some reports suggest. If the bet pays off, the carriers can look forward to solid-selling bookings in a month where demand is traditionally low. If the White House doesn t start opening things up until the first part of November, they run the risk of doing very expensive flights at near-empty cost, Mr Calder explained. The US has now banned travel from the UK and elsewhere in Europe for 19 months, and its reputation as a welcoming destination is shot Tori Emerson, an executive vice president at United States Travel Association, told The Independent that the announcement of reopening sometime in November is a major step forward but expressed concern that a lack of certainty would hurt the industry s plans.

The travel industry thrives on certainty and a specific date is needed ideally 1 November to ensure airlines, travel businesses and the traveling public have time to determine plans, she said. With a date unknown, we risk a slower ramp-up and the return of travel in China.