After nearly two years of strict border controls, Irish citizens can finally fly to the US again.
International travel restrictions banning non-US citizens from entering the States during the pandemic have been lifted after 21 months.
Any air travellers who are not US citizens will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding a flight.
However, every passenger - including US citizens - will also need to show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test.
There are some limited exceptions to the vaccine requirement - including for children under 18, people travelling for humanitarian or emergency reasons, and those who aren’t able to receive a vaccine for medical reasons.
In terms of testing, both PCR and antigen tests will be accepted by US authorities.
Fully vaccinated people must have returned a negative test taken at least three days before travelling.
Any non-vaccinated travellers will need a result from a test conducted “no more than one day” before their flight’s departure.
While rapid self-tests (e.g. at home antigen testing) are accepted, they must be conducted with a healthcare worker via “real-time supervision remotely through an audio and video connection” - i.e. they must be independently confirmed.
The testing requirement covers every passenger aged two or older.
Aer Lingus plans
Aer Lingus is one of the companies operating flights between Ireland and the US.
This week the firm will be operating flights to New York, Chicago, Boston and Washington DC.
However, they'll be expanding to 16 routes by summer 2022 - including flights between Dublin and the likes of San Francisco, Seattle and Orlando.
Flights between Shannon and New York / Boston will resume in March.
Peter O'Neill, chief operations officer with Aer Lingus, told Newstalk Breakfast capacity on transatlantic routes will be increased steadily over the coming months.
He said: “Leading up to Christmas, we’ll be back to 60% of our pre-COVID capacity.
“By Easter next year, that heads back up to 80% and then 90% by the summer.”
Ireland reopened for international arrivals - including from the US - during the summer, and Mr O’Neill says the airline has seen a “gradual building” of traffic since then.
He said: “We’ve conducted a survey recently which indicates two out of three people are willing to travel next year… I think interest is there.
“We look at the indications of bookings that are coming in, there’s strong interest in the summer.
“Obviously, as we build towards the peak, there will be pent-up demand because essentially we’ve missed two years of summer traffic.”
He said the company will be “constantly looking” at fares in the context of rising oil prices - noting this is not the first oil shock the industry has had to deal with.
