Britain's Heathrow Airport Opens to Vaccinated International Travelers

London’s Heathrow Airport welcomed fully vaccinated travelers arriving from the United States and most parts of the European Union Monday, the first day they could do so without going into quarantine.

Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye called lifting quarantine rules “a milestone,” saying it has allowed families to reunite that have been kept apart by the COVID-19 restrictions for as long as 18 months. Video from the airport Monday showed several emotional family reunions. New arrivals must still be tested before boarding their flights and take genetic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 tests within two days of arrival. Holland-Kaye has urged the government to "keep it simple" and to find an alternative to expensive PCR tests.