Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are temporarily banning flights from the UK as a precaution in connection with the latest virus mutation.

I wonder what's the hesitation from the rest of the world for.
Would expect Australia and New Zealand to follow soon.
Late reaction last time is what put the world in the pandemic situation.
OTOH, a more transmittable mutation is usually a function of less mortality. A virus that kills its host more effectively would be less successful in spreading too far.

[QUOTE=Nick;566758]Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are temporarily banning flights from the UK as a precaution in connection with the latest virus mutation.[/QUOTE]

I wonder what The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, D.C. is waiting for. A lot of flights from Heathrow arrive at JFK and LaGuardia in NYC every day. Logan in Boston and Dulles in D.C would get them as well.

[QUOTE=storm5510;566786]I wonder what The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, D.C. is waiting for. A lot of flights from Heathrow arrive at JFK and LaGuardia in NYC every day. Logan in Boston and Dulles in D.C would get them as well.[/QUOTE]I find "A lot" rather surprising but perhaps I have not been paying attention. Non-cargo traffic between the US and Europe has fallen immensely in recent months.

Many news reports are imprecise on exactly what flights from the UK are banned. Several do state that Germany was still allowing cargo flights. Some reports said "travel" from the UK was being banned, indicating [i]passenger[/i] transport.

I haven't heard anything about the US responding to the new strain of the virus in the UK. But I do not expect much from the FAA. A recent [url=https://apnews.com/article/us-news-transportation-9e2ba9c0b9b0a5b1f1c1d87a8dc0bb61]news story[/url] about how corruptly a Senate investigation found the FAA and its parent agency the Transportation Department to have acted [i]vis a vis[/i] Boeing, after a House investigation found much the same thing, does not fill me with confidence.

"Scottish exporters are warning millions of pounds worth of food could go to waste"
[URL]https://planetradio.co.uk/clyde/local/news/channel-chaos-over-coronavirus-fears/[/URL]

A new blood test for Covid patients gives a better prediction of which patients will have trouble throwing off the illness.

[URL]https://elifesciences.org/articles/63195[/URL]

[QUOTE=xilman;566793]I find "A lot" rather surprising but perhaps I have not been paying attention. Non-cargo traffic between the US and Europe has fallen immensely in recent months.[/QUOTE]

I just did a search. There are 28 flights scheduled to depart London for points in the U.S. [U]today[/U]. It shows the carriers. I didn't see any which are strictly freight carriers, like UPS or FedEx. What I looked at is [URL="https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhokagcIARIDTEhSEgoyMDIwLTEyLTIxcg0IAhIJL20vMDJfMjg2GiRqDQgCEgkvbS8wMl8yODYSCjIwMjAtMTItMjJyBwgBEgNMSFJwAYIBCwj___________8BQAFIAZgBAQ&tfu=EgYIARABGAA&client=firefox-b-1-d"]here[/URL]. When I wrote "a lot," I was thinking perhaps a dozen a day. A person will need deep pockets to ride one of these.

[QUOTE=storm5510;566870]I just did a search. There are 28 flights scheduled to depart London for points in the U.S. [U]today[/U]. It shows the carriers. I didn't see any which are strictly freight carriers, like UPS or FedEx. What I looked at is [URL="https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhokagcIARIDTEhSEgoyMDIwLTEyLTIxcg0IAhIJL20vMDJfMjg2GiRqDQgCEgkvbS8wMl8yODYSCjIwMjAtMTItMjJyBwgBEgNMSFJwAYIBCwj___________8BQAFIAZgBAQ&tfu=EgYIARABGAA&client=firefox-b-1-d"]here[/URL]. When I wrote "a lot," I was thinking perhaps a dozen a day. A person will need deep pockets to ride one of these.[/QUOTE]On our trip back from STN to our home we chatted with our cab driver who does a lot of airport journeys to LHR and LGW --- or used to anyway. Admittedly not an expert. Nonetheless, he said that essentially all the transatlantic traffic is repatriation flights in each direction. The airlines make the great majority of their money in the freight business, including carrying freight in the passenger cabin according to his witnesses. With very few passengers, more of the hold is available for cargo.

It is up to you as to how much credence you place in that testimony.

Added in edit: checked the prices in the link you provided. They don't seem unreasonable, based on my decade-old experience of transatlantic flights.

Admin asleep at the wheel - again...
 

From [url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9075989/At-25-flights-arrive-NYC-London-TODAY-despite-surging-COVID-cases.html]The Daily Mail Online[/url] (my emphasis):
[quote][list][*]Cuomo is called for people arriving in the US from the UK to be tested before arrive or for all travel to be banned from entering the country[*][b]He called it 'reprehensible' that the federal government has done nothing to stop or halt British travel[/b][*]British Airways and Delta have both agreed and will start testing passengers before flights starting from Tuesday [*]Twenty-four flights are scheduled from Heathrow to JFK on Monday and one is also due at Newark [*]Thirty-two countries have already banned travel from the UK over the new strain of COVID-19 there [*]The new strain is believed to be 70% more infectious than what's been seen previously [*]There is no travel in and out of London and travel between Scotland and England is also banned[*]Meanwhile in the US, daily COVID deaths are at their highest ever with close to 3,000 people per day dying[*][b]Trump said nothing about the new variant of Europe's crisis on Monday[/b][/list]By JENNIFER SMITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 11:23 EST, 21 December 2020 | UPDATED: 15:36 EST, 21 December 2020

British Airways and Delta say they will require passengers traveling from the UK to New York City to test negative for COVID-19 before they fly after being asked by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take action to stop the new mutant variant of the virus from arriving in the US.

The airlines agreed on Monday as 40 countries around the world banned travel from the UK over a new strain of COVID-19 that has been detected there. The new strain is 70 percent more infectious than what has been seen previously.

[b]Cuomo had asked the federal government to ban all travel from the UK but having had his request fall on deaf ears, he went to the airlines instead.[/b]
<snip>[/quote]

[QUOTE=xilman;566874]...Nonetheless, he said that essentially all the transatlantic traffic is repatriation flights in each direction. The airlines make the great majority of their money in the freight business, including carrying freight in the passenger cabin according to his witnesses...[/QUOTE]

I have seen videos of passenger planes being quickly converted to carry only freight. All the seats and carpet are removed. Work crews can do this in about a half-hour, so it said. Airlines don't like their big investments sitting on the ground. If they're not flying, they're not earning.