With changes looming in Europe’s restrictions on travel, including to and from the U.S., airlines are anticipating, and seeing the leading edge of a boom in demand for trans-Atlantic travel, especially from travelers who have had to cancel trips in the past year of pandemic restrictions.
Just after the EU announced that by summer vaccinated Americans would be able to visit, for example, United Airlines saw a sudden 19% uptick in searches for flights to Europe. United is resuming a number of routes in response, including flights from its Newark, Chicago, San Francisco and DC hubs to areas seen opening first, such as Rome, Athens and Reykjavik. Amsterdam and others will follow between May and July.
Delta is already restarting its Iceland routes and will fly to Athens next month. For Virgin Atlantic, some of the strongest demand from its mainly-UK network is for Orlando and similar resort areas, as well as Barbados.
The sharp uptick in travel, along with the vaccination requirements in many countries will put new emphasis on apps that can show vaccination status, the so-called ‘vaccine passports.’ Europe is planning to issue a ‘green pass’ in June which will make the process clear for Europeans, but for many Americans there is not yet a widely-used digital pass; unless airlines work out a way for their passengers to upload documents before flight, airport time on both sides of the Atlantic could include new lines to manually check paper documents.
