In April 2021, air traffic in London Heathrow Airport (LHR) remained 92.1% lower than before the pandemic, the company outlined in a statement on May 11, 2021. The decline is equal to 6.2 million passengers per month. During the month, 116,000 metric tonnes of cargo traveled through Heathrow, which is a12% decline when compared to 132,000 in April 2019. 

Starting from May 17, travelers from 12 countries and territories in the green list will be allowed to enter the UK. While they will be asked to register and take two COVID-19 tests, they will not be asked to quarantine unless the test result is positive. While London Heathrow “welcomes” the upcoming change of rules, it would like to see the United States added to the green list. Currently, the US is under the “amber list” meaning that passengers arriving from the country must undergo a 10-day quarantine. 

“The Government’s green list is very welcome, but they need to expand it massively in the next few weeks to include other low risk markets such as the United States, and remove the need for fully vaccinated passengers to take two expensive PCR tests,” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye is cited in the company’s statement as saying. “Border Force’s claims that “long queues in immigration are inevitable” smack of complacency – they are completely avoidable if Ministers ensure that all desks are staffed at peak times.”