BritishAmerican Business sent letters to both the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and U.S. President Joe Biden, urging them to remove the quarantine requirement for U.S. citizens entering the United Kingdom, and ban on UK citizens entering the United States, respectively.

About BritishAmerican Business

BritishAmerican Business is the leading transatlantic trade association, created as a result of the merger between the British-American Chamber of Commerce in the US and the American Chamber of Commerce in the UK. They are committed to strengthening the economic corridor between the United States and the United Kingdom through supporting policies and actions that protect and enhance the environment for transatlantic trade and investment on behalf of their members.

They convene and serve a growing network of companies and business leaders through networking opportunities, bespoke programming and marketing platforms. They actively promote trade and investment and support those who make the transatlantic corridor part of their business growth ambition.

The Open Letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson

“Dear Prime Minister,

On behalf of the member companies of BritishAmerican Business (BAB), which represent a significant portion of transatlantic trade and investment, we are writing to ask for your support in reopening safe air travel between the UK and the U.S. as quickly as possible, leveraging the significant progress both countries have made in their fight to control COVID-19 and vaccinate their populations.

The UK and the U.S. are two of the world’s greatest trading nations, and air travel is a vital ingredient in ensuring this source of prosperity for both countries. Estimates of the economic losses for both countries from the continued closure of the air corridor are staggering and will translate into job losses beyond the aviation and hospitality sectors which have already been devastated.

The impact is felt most severely by small- and medium-sized businesses that do not have extensive teams in the other market. These companies rely heavily on traveling to see their customers and their suppliers, and are most likely to delay or cancel investment if they are unable to visit in person.

Both countries have done a remarkable job in getting their populations vaccinated and now have the chance to lead the world again in demonstrating how safely to re-open a crucial air corridor. While business fully understands the need for any re-opening to be safe and not increase the rate of infection in either country, we encourage you to evaluate the feasibility of updating the quarantine requirements on American citizens entering the UK and ideally removing these restrictions. We have similarly encouraged the U.S. President to re-evaluate the ban on UK citizens from visiting the U.S. The aviation industry, and the broader travel and hospitality sector, are ready to work with your team to ensure robust and evidence-based measures are implemented before, during and after transit. 

No two countries are better positioned to prove that trade matters and that the world will not be beaten by this pandemic. To do so, we must safely re-open the UK-U.S. corridor to business travellers as quickly as possible.

Signed 

Duncan Edwards, CEO BritishAmerican Business

Bob Garrett, Chair of the Board New York Office Managing Partner, KPMG LLP

Anna Marrs, Co-Chair of Advisory Board President, Global Commercial Services, American Express

Dan Glaser, Co-Chair of Advisory Board President & CEO, Marsh McLennan”