The letter, signed by the US Travel Association as well as major US airlines and global hotel groups, calls for the establishing of a US-UK travel corridor due to the two countries’ “similar pace of vaccinations and declining infection rates”.

“We respectfully urge you to engage with prime minister Boris Johnson to secure a commitment to quickly establish a travel corridor between the US and the UK. The federal government should then expand similar PHCs (public health corridors) to other low-risk countries,” said the letter.

“Establishing a US-UK public health corridor would be a crucial step in our country’s recovery. A recent study found that restarting travel between the US and the UK could deliver over $4 billion in economic impact and support almost 300,000 jobs in the US over the next several months.”

The letter also urged the creation of a public-private taskforce in the US by the end of May to develop a “risk-based, data-driven roadmap” for safely reopening international travel to the US.

“The US must be a global leader in restarting international travel,” the letter added. “Using science and data as our guide, it is possible to reopen our borders and establish these important public health corridors.” 

The US is currently classified as an amber country under the UK government’s new traffic light system to reopen international travel from Monday (17 May).