Ministers in talks over London to New York air bridge
Plans are being made for an air bridge between London and New York so that passengers can travel to the US without needing to quarantine, it was reported today.
Although the US remains on the UK’s travel “red list” due to high overall rates of coronavirus infection, ministers are in talks with American counterparts over “regional” travel corridors to areas with low rates of transmission.
The development comes with officials widely expected to put Switzerland back on the “red list” of destinations later today after their weekly review of the quarantine measures.
Top of the list of US destinations is New York, where authorities initially imposed draconian lockdown restrictions. However, it has now reduced the number of cases per 100,000 over the last seven days to just 7.2.
A source told the Telegraph: “There are discussions going on at a very senior level around opening up London and New York.
“They are at a very early stage but it is vital to get business going with a major trading partner especially as we near Brexit.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “Conversations between governments in other countries on a whole range of issues take place regularly.
“Public health remains the UK’s top priority and we are committed to tackling this virus while enabling a sustainable and responsible return to international travel. We keep the data for all countries and territories under constant review, and will not add a country to our travel corridor list unless safe to do so.”
According to the Times, the air bridge could be in place by Christmas. At the moment, all travellers from the UK to the US are required to quarantine for 14 days.
Cases in the US continue to surge upwards, with the US Centre for Disease Control reporting over 37,000 new infections yesterday.
In total, 5.7m cases have been confirmed in the country so far, nearly a quarter of the global tally, which is approaching 24m.
As in other countries that have seen the quarantine measures reimposed like France and Spain, the number of cases in Switzerland have crept up past 20 cases per 100,000, the benchmark for restrictions being implemented.
There are also fears that the Czech Republic will soon follow Switzerland in being added to the red list.