High-level officials from the United States and United Kingdom are allegedly discussing the creation of a transatlantic “air bridge” that would restore travel between New York and London.
Details: Transatlantic “Air Bridge” Between New York And London
Since March, Britons have not been allowed to travel to the United States on leisure trips and Americans traveling to the UK have faced 14-day quarantine restrictions.
First reported by the UK Telegraph, the so-called air bridge would privilege residents of New York City and London only. Bonafide residents would not be required to quarantine upon arrival.
Weekly new cases in New York City have averaged about 7.2 per 100,000 residents. Meanwhile, in London that figure is 11.3 per 100,000 residents. However both have made substantial improvements from earlier grim figures.
A senior official 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.”
Why Not Just Require Negative PCR Testing?
I’m going to assume, though it isn’t mentioned, that such travel will still require a recent negative PCR test and perhaps another test upon arrival. If that is the case, why not just allow anyone with a negative PCR test to visit? Just because certain enclaves of the country are faring far worse than others, isn’t the point to keep virus out…not people who don’t have the virus?
I suppose the counterpoint would be that New York City and London, as cities, are much safer travel destinations, statically at least, than other COVID-19 hotspots. An analogy would be why are pilots forced to retire at 65 years old when many are healthy, strong, and fit to fly for many more years? The answer is because generally applicable rules provide more predictable outcomes. Rules can provide the most efficient way to proceed, saving time and effort while simultaneously lessening the risk of error in a particular case.
Anyway, I guess I’m just upset that Los Angeles residents appear to be left out. 😉
CONCLUSION
Expect outrage over cultural elitism and similar charges, as the plan would definitely not be open to all UK and US citizens. My personal feeling is that the U.S. should fully re-open travel corridors to the United Kingdom and the European Union immediately. But this “air bridge” would mark progress and reward the good work New York and London have done (after screwing up so badly to start).
Do you see any pitfalls to a transatlantic air bridge between New York City and London?
Not sure what you mean by the “good work” New York has done. Killing over 30,000 people and spreading the virus around the country to kill thousands more doesn’t qualify as good work in my book.
As I said at the end, good news only recently. They really messed up to start. Big league. That makes their progress all the more notable.
I think this would be great. Loved ones have been apart for months. I’ve not seen my fiancé since JANUARY. I would test, quarantine, anything! I don’t understand why Americans can fly to the U.K. yet we are full on banned.
Their recent “good work” is probably a statistical abberation since, as those of us who live here know, it isn’t really any better. It all depends on how you could but I can tell you, living next to a hospital, the clinics are full and lines are long. Any statistic like this carried out to decimal points is suspicious itself.
@Mitch: Precisely. DoJ is investigating N.Y. Gov. Cuomo and the decisions made that saw thousands of nursing home Covid-19 deaths in the state. Stunning – not – then that the elites are concerned with taking care of the elites of these two globalist cities of power and finance. Money just doesn’t talk, it screams.
It’s definitely all about $$$. I’m a bit pissed that I can’t return to my home country without a 2 week quarantine, thereby defeating the purpose of anything but a long-term stay, but someone from NYC could pop over for the weekend with no quarantine because of their NYC address. The UK should prioritize its own citizens over New Yorkers.
If my IQ were 20 points lower, I might qualify to work in government – either one – and dream this nonsense up.
The problem is that, unlike in European countries, Americans and Brits don’t have ID cards or residential address registration, so proving one’s residency in a place is extremely hard, especially in two cities where most people don’t drive and therefore don’t require driver’s licenses. Are passport control officers going to examine leases? Bank statements? Absurd.
I agree with Matthew that U.S./EU/UK travel should be restored immediately. I wouldn’t even require tests, just temperature checks and maybe a health form upon arrival. Epidemiological conditions are converging between the two regions right now as conditions improve in the U.S. and worsen in the EU.
I also think travel should be restored with Brazil, because their epidemiological situation has also improved quite a bit and they have invited American travelers back.
I would keep the China travel ban until China reciprocates for American travelers *and* proves that their epidemiological data can be trusted by allowing a team of U.S. CDC experts to regularly audit it.
Agree. Except for countries that have completely eliminated COVID (or are close and actively trying to) and are prepared to live in their own bubble for quite a while, such as New Zealand, all these bans and restrictions should be dropped. In the US and the EU, the barn door was already opened in March and the animals have long since escaped.
International travel demand will remain low naturally due to people’s fears, so it’s not like there will be a sudden boom of international leisure travel. But those who want and need to travel won’t have to deal with all this nonsense. A few asymptomatic international travelers from the US who slip in and unknowingly infect others during their trip to the UK aren’t going to materially change the direction of the COVID curve in that country.
@Mitch, I think the Canada and New Zealand policies are absurd and self-defeating. They’re going to remain cut off from the world until there’s a vaccine — and then until the vaccine is in 100% of the population? What happens then when they do open up and non-vaccinated people visit? They’re just setting themselves back from herd immunity — Sweden had the right idea. Honestly, as an EU citizen, I’m upset that Canadians can travel to the EU without reciprocity for EU citizens in Canada.
In any event, you’re right. U.S.-EU travel — and Brazil-U.S. travel — should be restored immediately. As I said about China, I’m not so sure there, because there are geopolitical reasons to punish them a bit for dishonesty.
I wasn’t sure about Sweden’s strategy in the beginning. But after going there last month, and seeing how they’re handling things first hand, I believe their approach is 100% correct. My wife and kids have Swedish passports so no issues entering, and no quarantine or testing required. I was also allowed in with a UK passport, but of course I can’t even visit the UK myself without first spending 2 weeks alone in a room. Crazy.
I’m an American living in London – been using the air bridges all summer to pop in and out Europe.
IMO, this is way overdue. America is twice the size of the EU. If the UK can differentiate Portugal, Spain, & Andorra for quarantine reasons, it can differentiate New York, Texas, & Alaska.
My view is that there is no way this will happen. The UK government has not allowed different regions of EU countries exemptions e.g Canary Islands, and That’s to a location that you would never really travel via from Spain, whereas New York is a gateway for the whole US. Plus the government has zero capabilities to monitor or enforce this.
They’ve been quizzed on a negative Covid test to avoid quarantine and the government said that you may not test positive in up to the first 8 days of having covid, so they could potentially get people to take a test on day 8 but my the time you get the results on day 9 or 10 is it really any better than 14 days isolation. No idea if this science holds up
When I first read about this “air bridge”, I thought it was to resemble the air bridge between Sao Paulo/Congonhas and Rio de Janiero/Santos Dumont. Namely, I thought it was going to be about cooperation between BA, DL, VS, UA so that JFK/EWR – LHR flights are coordinated, say one per day, airlines split the week. But, no, this is not what it’s about.
It’s all about risk. Have an open corridor and you WILL have transmission. The question then becomes how many people are you willing to kill? Don’t say “zero” because many things add risks and real transmission.
A good solution would be for there to be a way for important (less than essential) travel to occur. That would be good for the US/Canada. Let people with important reasons to cross and have them detail plans. For example, someone could cross but cannot use public transportation or go to restaurants or shopping (except to grocery stores no more than twice a week).
So if someone lives in NYC but spent the last month in a “hot spot,” he or she can travel to London? Makes no sense whatsoever. Need to base travel privilege on test results, not city of residence.
Hi Matthew – you make a great point. Why should the way someone looks or what the address is on their driver’s license determine whether they are “safe” to enter a country? Seem to me the easy (and by the way, actually effective) way to prevent the spread of COVID due to int’l travel would be to require a simple medical test. Its just that easy. All this effort spent on determining which countries/states/cities “better handle” COVID is nonsense. Case in point is Sweden: once a pariah, now a hero? Or New Zealand/Hong Hong/Japan/Taiwan: formerly heroes, now not-so-much? Just let those people who can prove they aren’t infected to come in. Why are we making this so hard and so complicated??
By the way, fast forward 6-12 months when people realize a 100% foolproof vaccine is a pipe dream and this is where we are going to end up anyway. So, why wait?
What a bizzare idea. Your passport doesn’t say where you live and that is all that is required to fly. Any yahoo can claim they are “from NY” And I guarantee you the airlines aren’t going to try to enforce this…they fly to London from places like Dallas and barely warn you that you may be quarantined when you arrive. They just want to sell tickets. The only hope is that you would have to claim you are from NY to qualify and most people, other than residents, would never want to be from NY.