Going on vacation? Get ready for bottlenecks at airports under strict entry rules

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Planning to travel internationally next week? Be prepared for busier airports and border crossings.

Airlines and U.S. Customs and Border Protection expect a spike in travel starting Monday, the day the U.S. reopens to foreign visitors from dozens of countries, and U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico reopen to nonessential travel.

Add in a slew of new entry requirements for international visitors that must be verified by airlines – proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a negative coronavirus test and attestation forms – and bottlenecks are inevitable.

“It’s going to be a bit sloppy at first, I can assure you,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said last week at a U.S. Travel Association conference. “There will be lines, unfortunately.

Get ready to travel ✈️, starting November 8, non-citizens traveling by air to the U.S. must:
💉be fully vaccinated
📁provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination status
✅proof of a negative COVID-19 test

Learn more about updated rules for air travel ⬇️https://t.co/NXPxZLEuve

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 3, 2021

‘Flights will be fairly full’

Airlines are prepping for a big increase in travelers eager to vacation in the United States or reunite with loved ones.

Many of Virgin Atlantic’s U.S.-bound flights on Monday, including its first flight to the U.S. that day from London to New York, are sold out, according to spokesperson Andrew Scott.

United Airlines expects more than 30,000 people to fly into the U.S. that day. That equates to a peak summer day for the airline.

Most of the flights will be “fairly full,” according to spokesperson Nicole Carriere.

Delta Air Lines said many of its Monday flights to the U.S. are sold out and that planes are expected to be relatively full in the following weeks. The airline has seen a 450% increase in bookings by travelers who live outside the U.S. in the weeks since the reopening was announced, spokesperson Morgan Durrant said. The most popular destinations: New York, Atlanta, Boston and Orlando, Florida.

Source: El Heraldo de Mexico

Mexico Daily Post