Special fast lane planned for vaccinated arrivals at London’s biggest airport
- London's Heathrow airport said vaccinated travelers will be fast-tracked at the border.
- The airport said it would trial the lanes for some British Airways and Virgin Atlantic passengers.
London's busiest airport plans to fast-track passengers who have been fully vaccinated.
Heathrow Airport said it would begin using special lanes for vaccinated passengers starting around the weekend of July 10.
They will be at first be open to passengers on four British Airways and Virgin Atlantic routes, officials said.
The airlines said that they would verify the vaccine status of travelers before take-off, making it easy to sort them after they land.
The routes being used for the trial are:
- BA flights from New York JFK
- BA flights from Athens, Greece
- Virgin flights from Los Angeles LAX
- Virgin flights from Montego Bay, Jamaica
In a joint statement, Heathrow and the airlines said they hoped the scheme would help the UK government accelerate laxer travel rules for vaccinated travelers.
The airline industry has complained that the UK government is insisting that travelers quarantine on return from all but a small number of countries given "green" status.
Most nations, including the US and much of Europe, are considered "amber," which means travelers need to quarantine for 10 days on their return and pay for two rounds of coronavirus testing.
Some countries, including Brazil, India, and much of Africa, are considered "red," which means returning travelers have to spend 10 days in expensive quarantine hotels.