The U.S. opened its doors to international travelers on Monday after more than 18 months of COVID-19 restrictions, and some airports across the world celebrated the milestone with pomp and circumstance.<\/p>\n
Starting Monday, fully vaccinated international travelers will be permitted to enter the U.S. as long as they show proof of inoculation and present a negative COVID-19 test that was taken within three days of travel. The new policy, which was\u00a0first announced last month<\/a>, applies to both land borders and air travel.<\/p>\n Celebrations:<\/strong>\u00a0Travelers celebrated the new travel guidelines throughout the world on Monday.<\/p>\n At Heathrow Airport in London, employees welcomed passengers into the facility by waving American flags,\u00a0according to The New York Times<\/a>. Passengers at the airport who were boarding Virgin Atlantic flights were also greeted by performers dressed in red, white and blue garb.<\/p>\n Also at Heathrow, rival airlines British Airways and Virgin Atlantic commemorated the milestone day by synchronizing the departure times of both their flights to New York. The two aircraft\u00a0took off at the same time<\/a>\u00a0on parallel runways.<\/p>\n