News
U.S. border reopening date still unclear
October 6th 2021
Airlines have no clarity on a date for easing COVID restrictions for vaccinated visitors to the U.S. despite an avalanche of bookings. Read More » JetBlue Airways chief executive, Robin Hayes, said the industry expect borders to reopen to inbound visitors in November and before the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of the month. “A significant number of customers have made bookings because of the news,’’ Hayes said at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meeting in Boston. “So if the opening is delayed we are going to face the consequences across the industry of tens of thousands of peoples’ flights, if not more, being cancelled because they can’t come.’’ Nonetheless, Hayes believed the Biden Administration understood the situation airlines were in. IATA director-general, Willie Walsh, said it was important that the U.S. market, which has been closed to outsiders since March last year, opened. “We’ve waited for this announcement,” Walsh said. “We are prepared to be a little patient as we get greater clarity around it, but the clear message is there is huge demand for travel on the trans-Atlantic [routes].”
