A man awaiting a friend holds a sign at the International-arrivals area of Terminal 5 in London's Heathrow Airport, Aug. 2, 2021.Britain opened its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from the U.S. and the European Union on Monday as travel industry leaders urged the government to further ease restrictions and allow people to enjoy the benefits of a successful COVID-19 inoculation program.
British airlines and holiday companies are hoping for a late-summer travel boom after the pandemic halted most international travel, slashing profits and threatening thousands of jobs. The number of passengers traveling through London’s Heathrow Airport, the U.K.’s busiest airport, fell 75 per cent in the first half of this year.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment for quite a long time,” said Susan Handfield, 70. “We only heard a week ago that they booked the flights.” John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, said the British government should allow most travellers to use cheaper lateral flow tests and work with countries like the U.S. to ease remaining travel restrictions. This is warranted by the U.K.’s successful vaccination program, he said.