International travelers set for emotional reunions as U.S. reopens its borders

(NBC) Travelers prepared for emotional reunions with friends and family Monday after the United States lifted restrictions imposed more than a year and a half ago at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has been 602 days since non-Americans and non-residents of the United States were able to travel to the country. And now, they will be able to do so—with some restrictions.

They need to be fully vaccinated and they need to a COVID test taken quite recently before they travel showing they are negative, don’t have the disease.

There were celebrations at Heathrow Airport in London. Flight staff dressed like some Americans – dressed up as Elvis, dressed up as Uncle Sam, waving American flags, celebrating. They even did something a lot of people outside of the industry wouldn’t even notice.

There were two simultaneous flights on parallel runways out of Heathrow at 8:30 a.m. on competing carriers: British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, as a kind of celebratory move showing how pleased they were to be flying to the states.

Passenger Alice Keane said, “Really, really exciting. I mean, I was meant to go just before COVID happened and, obviously, it’s been delayed this long, so it’s really exciting to finally be able to go.”

While business travelers are going to be back up, there were also a lot of vacationers. NBC News heard from a lot of people who said they are going to America to visit Disneyland.