Flights to Europe set to increase as US eases Covid travel restrictions

The window to find cheap fares to Europe is closing.

The Biden administration said on Monday that the United States will begin in November allowing vaccinated foreigners from 33 countries, including the United Kingdom, China and EU countries, relaxing the rules established at the start of the pandemic.

This is great news for airlines desperately looking to boost revenues after a historic lull in demand for routes that were among the most popular before the Covid-19 pandemic. Many EU countries have been welcoming American tourists for months since vaccines became widely available, but the United States has not reciprocated.

“In the past, as restrictions have been relaxed, there has been an increase in travel bookings, and we expect a similar reaction here,” wrote Conor Cunningham, executive director of MKM Partners, in a note from research to investors.

Bargain hunters keen to take advantage of the relatively inexpensive flights may be out of luck as the demand for transatlantic travel increases.

Round-trip flights to Europe, including the UK, from the US cost around $ 565, a level not seen in its five years of data collection, the fare tracking company said. Hopper.

Fares were down 15% from August 30, after the European Union recommended its member countries restore travel restrictions to the United States. The advisory was non-binding, however, and American travelers can still visit a multitude of countries if they meet requirements such as proof of Covid Vaccination -19 or a recent negative Covid test, if not a combination of the two.

Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper, said he expects air fares to rise from Europe to the United States due to the lifting of travel restrictions and from the United States to Europe, as more and more travelers realize that the EU opinion “was a moderate opinion”.

Airlines did not immediately say whether they would add flights following the relaxed U.S. travel rules, but carriers surged with additional service to destinations like Iceland, Croatia and Greece when those countries started. to allow US visitors earlier this year.