Following Monday’s long-awaited announcement by the Biden administration that the U.S. would reopen to fully vaccinated travellers in early NOV, Canada and the world applauded.
The reopening of the U.S. to foreign pax has been seen as essential to the recovery of the global travel industry.
For Canadians, the news was a bit anticlimactic. After all, unlike flights to the EU, flights between Canada and the U.S. have continued throughout the pandemic, albeit on a much-reduced frequency. Canadians remain under government advisory against non-essential travel, although surveys tell us they are chafing at the bit to book and go. But as Open Jaw reported, the announcement failed to address two key hurdles for Canadians hoping to travel to the U.S. The land border into the U.S. remains closed to non-essential travel, unaffected by the news, and in addition, many Canadians who may want to fly to American destinations remain concerned about what vaccination regimen will be accepted to enter the U.S., which at the moment does not recognize the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Major and niche Canadian air operators have already said in recent weeks that they are optimistic about the upcoming sun season, including American destinations. Earlier this month during a call releasing the company’s third quarter results, Transat’s president and CEO Annick Guérard had a positive outlook.
“We currently see good trends in the bookings, even if they tend to come in closer to the departure date than they used to,” Guérard said on the call. “But it is very clear that they are eager to travel.”
So there was no giant boost to the industry here.
Cue the Europeans
Barred entirely from flying to the U.S. for a year and a half, despite having permitted Americans to travel into European destinations since the summer, Europeans, their elected officials, and EU airlines were growing increasingly frustrated with the unilateral scenario.
Now they’ve changed their tune.
SimpleFlying reports that “since the US government’s announcement, airlines in Europe have seen a huge surge in bookings.”
Within hours, British Airways reported a 700 per cent increase in flight searches for American destinations. Virgin Atlantic saw a 600 per cent overnight increase in bookings to the U.S., with holiday destinations like Orlando, Miami and Las Vegas following only the flagship NYC route in popularity.
As Virgin Atlantic’s CEO, Shai Weiss, put it, “We are simply not Virgin without the Atlantic. After 18 months of uncertainty, we cannot wait to welcome our customers back onboard, flying them safely to their favourite US destination.”
German flag carrier Lufthansa also saw an increase in bookings, although a more modest 40 per cent. CEO, Carsten Spohr, revealed that the United States was its most profitable market during the last quarter, even “despite the ongoing restrictions. With passengers allowed to travel once more, the airline should see a decent financial boost,” predicted SimpleFlying.
Plus a boost in stock value.
Reuters reports that Lufthansa’s shares, “jumped 6%. British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) soared 10%” on the news.
And while stock prices are still down considerably since pre-pandemic times, the market’s swift - and positive - response to the announcement of the reopening of travel into the U.S. gives the industry new hope of recovery.
