(Reuters) – Major U.S. airline and travel groups urged on Monday a partnership with the government to develop a plan to reopen international borders this summer, assuming COVID-19 vaccine and case counts continue along positive trends.
In a letter sent to the White House COVID-19 recovery coordinator, more than two dozen industry groups, including Airlines for America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. Travel Association said: “The time to plan for and chart a defined roadmap to reopen international travel is now.”
The United States has banned most travel from Britain, Europe, Brazil, China and South Africa since the coronavirus pandemic started taking hold last year, devastating the airline and travel industry globally.
The U.S. groups called for a risk-based, data-driven roadmap to safely lift those restrictions to be finalized before May 1 so that a plan is in place for international travel by the summer of 2021.
Travel within the U.S. has picked up considerably over the past week as more Americans become vaccinated, though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends against nonessential travel.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
