The Paper's reporter Wang Lu
On November 8, local time, the United States reopened its borders to 26 Schengen countries in Europe and international travelers from 33 countries including China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, ending nearly 20 months of international travel restrictions.
The most intuitive change after the Opening of the United States' borders is the recovery of the international aviation industry. According to CNBC, United Airlines said it expects the number of international travelers arriving on Nov. 8 to increase by 50 percent from a week earlier. Delta Air Lines said it expects many international flights to arrive in the U.S. in the coming weeks to be full and demand is strong. A spokesperson for the company told CNN that in the six weeks after the White House announced it would lift border restrictions, ticket bookings from outside the U.S. increased by 450 percent.
Hopper, a flight tracking site, also noted that international flight searches to the U.S. have more than quadrupled since the Biden administration announced in September that it would lift international travel restrictions. According to Aviation Analytics firm OAG, the number of passengers traveling to the U.S. from Europe in December is expected to recover to 67 percent in December 2019.
In early 2020, then-US President Donald Trump imposed a travel ban due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then incumbent President Joe Biden expanded the ban earlier this year to prohibit citizens from 33 countries, including the United Kingdom, most of Europe, China, Brazil and South Africa, from traveling to the United States. Although European countries have eased entry rules for international tourists, including U.S. citizens, starting this spring, and airlines on both sides of the Atlantic and other travel industry companies have urged biden's administration to reopen borders, U.S. officials have not responded, CNBC reported.
British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle told NBC that the reopening of international routes is critical to business and trade today, that britain and the United States are closely linked, and that resuming international travel is key to boosting economic activity.
However, the gradual resumption of international travel to the United States has also put forward higher requirements for airline operations and border management. CNN reported that U.S. airlines are still recalling employees and aircraft grounded due to the epidemic; U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration are also facing a shortage of manpower.
For international passengers, according to the regulations, before arriving in the United States by plane, they need to show a certificate of COVID-19 vaccination and provide proof of negative COVID-19 test results within 3 days before departure. Travelers do not need to quarantine after entering the United States. At present, the United States recognizes all vaccines approved and authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and vaccines on the World Health Organization's emergency use list, mainly including vaccines produced by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Modena, AstraZeneca, China Kexing Biologics, Sinopharm and other enterprises.
In addition to arriving in the U.S. by air route, the U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico have also reopened to vaccinated international travelers since November 8. While visitors are required to show proof of vaccination, there is no requirement to provide proof of COVID-19 testing at land transit. Children under the age of 18 may enter the United States accompanied by an vaccinated adult.
It is worth noting that while the United States is resuming its border opening, a fourth wave of COVID-19 is spreading in Europe. WHO officials warned last week that Europe was once again in the "epicenter" of the outbreak, with 500,000 people expected to die this winter in Europe and some neighbouring countries.
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Wuwei
Proofreader: Liu Wei