Leaders from across the travel and aviation sectors have come together to call for the reopening of transatlantic travel ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall, which starts on Friday (11 June).
The plea has been issued by the industry’s leading UK-US passenger carriers, as well as the head of the US Travel Association president Roger Dow and Heathrow airport chief John Holland-Kaye.
Airlines supporting the rallying cry include American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
The coalition hosted a press conference on Monday (7 June) attended by all eight industry leaders, who came together to lobby US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
The US is current on the UK government’s amber list, meaning arrivals must quarantine for 10 days upon their arrival and submit to tests on days two and eight of their arrival.
The US, meanwhile, still has stringent entry requirements for British travellers, effectively limited travel to US citizens.
Hosting the event, Duncan Edwards, chief executive of BritishAmerican Business, said the rules amounted to an effective ban on travel between the two countries.
Virgin Atlantic chief Shei Weiss said there was "no reason" for the US to be absent from the UK’s green list, who BA chief Sean Doyle said it was vital Johnson and Biden addressed the issue of transatlantic travel this week.