Plans to resume trans- Atlantic travel after the disruptions brought on by Covid-19 were dismissed by industry leaders on Thursday as lacking "clarity."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden are set to agree on Thursday to launch a task force to make recommendations on safely restarting internationaltravel.
Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss described its creation as "a first step towards reopening the skies," but warned that the "absence of a definitive timeframe" means airlines, businesses and consumers have not been given "much-needed clarity."
He said: "Restrictions on transatlantic travel are costing the UK 23 million pounds each day and, despite one of the highest vaccination rates globally, the UK is now falling behind the EU's reopening.
"For global Britain to be seen as the best place to do business, visit and invest, UK government must act immediately to safely reopen the skies."
Before the outbreak of coronavirus, the British-US air corridor was one of the busiest in the world.
More than 5 million people from Britain visited the US every year, with 4.5 million trips made in the reverse direction.
But demand has collapsed as coronavirus restrictions mean people arriving in Britain from the US must self-isolate for 10 days, while most British citizens are banned from entering the US.
The new task force will be overseen in Britain by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and will be chaired by senior officials in the Department for Transport and their US counterparts.
Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, said the group is "the latest in a long line of travel task forces which so far have only wreaked further devastation on our industry."
He continued: "Jobs won't be saved, nor livelihoods protected, until we are given a certainty on dates for the resumption of international travel."
The British government's own Global Travel Taskforce issued reports in November and April recommending how foreign travel can resume.
But the travel industry has claimed that many of its findings did not go far enough or were ignored.
A spokesperson for travel trade association Abta said: "The US- UK link is incredibly important for business and leisure travel, as well as UK trade, so steps to get travel restarted are very welcome.
"However, there is little in this announcement in terms of detail ortimings."
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