Bob Schumacher, United’s UK and Ireland sales director, told TTG that the airline had enjoyed a succession of record bookings over the past 10 days. “There’s been a dramatic increase in demand, which started with the announcement about 8 November,” said Schumacher.

“We have started booking for Christmas, February half-term and Easter, and this week’s announcement has been an amplifier. We’ve broken the record for bookings over the Atlantic in the past 10 days.”

Most of the demand has come from the UK but there has also been a “halo effect” with increased bookings from the US as well. United is continuing to ramp up its schedule from the UK and will add another five new flights to the US from Heathrow next year, including a new Boston route.

Schumacher added that United would be operating its largest-ever summer schedule from Heathrow in 2022, including seven daily flights to Newark – up from five daily services in 2019.

United also plans to restart flights from Edinburgh to Newark in spring 2022, as well as offering seasonal summer services from the Scottish capital to Washington and Chicago.