Washington: The United States’ decision to lift restrictions on incoming passengers against Covid-19 was met with a sigh of relief by the global airline sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.
Air France-KLM chief Benjamin Smith said Monday’s announcement was “formidable news” for a sector that has bled billions of euros over the past 18 months, with flights traditionally the most lucrative for Europe’s biggest airlines. has done.
For most of Europe’s flag carriers – such as Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa – restrictions on long-haul routes across the Atlantic were particularly hard to swallow.
For example, Air France-KLM generates 40 percent of its sales from North Atlantic services, and for Germany’s Lufthansa the proportion is 50 percent.
“Today’s news… is a historic moment,” the British Airways chief said. Sean Doyle.
“Our customers should feel now that the world is opening up again for them and can book their trips with confidence.”
American airlines such as United, Delta and American are more focused domestically and less dependent on international services, which account for 25–30 percent of revenue. But he also welcomed the news.
“Today’s announcement is a positive step in our country’s recovery,” said Nicolas Calio, head of industry association Airlines for America.
Airlines for Europe tweeted that it similarly “appreciates the decision”, which will “give a much-needed boost to trans-Atlantic traffic and #tourism and reunite families and friends”.
The International Air Transport Association, or IATA, which has 290 member airlines accounting for 82 percent of global air travel, described it as “a big step forward”.
The Director General of IATA said, “This is great news for families and loved ones. It bodes well for the livelihoods of the millions in the US who depend on global tourism. And it will spur economic recovery by enabling some of the key business travel markets.” will give.” willie walshaw said.
IATA has been calling for months to lift travel restrictions “guided by science” and to take into account the vaccination status of travelers.
Europe’s airlines were hoping to reopen transatlantic routes in time for the major summer holiday season.
But as Europe reopened its internal borders, Washington remained cautious. And this year transatlantic traffic was less than half of the levels recorded in 2019.
Colin said the US decision was “actually a little later than we expected, given how effective we know vaccines are. We expected it in the summer.” scarola, an analyst at CFRA Research.
But even if European airlines are now ready to restart engines for more planes flying across the Atlantic, the recovery will be slow, warned George dimitroffAscend by Cerium, an analyst at Air Transportation Data Specialist.
“We would not expect to see an immediate increase in airline schedules, except on the busiest routes,” he said.
“Additional capacity may be added around the year-end holiday period, but a more significant improvement is expected in March 2022, when airlines gear up for their summer schedule,” he said.
Burket Huey, an analyst at Morningstar, pointed out that “if you don’t fill a plane at 75-80 percent, the trip won’t be profitable. You need passengers on both sides.”
Dimitroff said he expects “business travel to begin in the fourth quarter of this year … as European business travelers will be able to meet US customers and suppliers.”
But analyst Scarola was more cautious.
“While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it doesn’t really improve the uncertainty about two key things that are essential to international travel recovery: how the pandemic is going to play out in the coming months.. .and will a large part of business travel disappear because of the virtual meeting tools now available?”
Air France-KLM chief Benjamin Smith said Monday’s announcement was “formidable news” for a sector that has bled billions of euros over the past 18 months, with flights traditionally the most lucrative for Europe’s biggest airlines. has done.
For most of Europe’s flag carriers – such as Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa – restrictions on long-haul routes across the Atlantic were particularly hard to swallow.
For example, Air France-KLM generates 40 percent of its sales from North Atlantic services, and for Germany’s Lufthansa the proportion is 50 percent.
“Today’s news… is a historic moment,” the British Airways chief said. Sean Doyle.
“Our customers should feel now that the world is opening up again for them and can book their trips with confidence.”
American airlines such as United, Delta and American are more focused domestically and less dependent on international services, which account for 25–30 percent of revenue. But he also welcomed the news.
“Today’s announcement is a positive step in our country’s recovery,” said Nicolas Calio, head of industry association Airlines for America.
Airlines for Europe tweeted that it similarly “appreciates the decision”, which will “give a much-needed boost to trans-Atlantic traffic and #tourism and reunite families and friends”.
The International Air Transport Association, or IATA, which has 290 member airlines accounting for 82 percent of global air travel, described it as “a big step forward”.
The Director General of IATA said, “This is great news for families and loved ones. It bodes well for the livelihoods of the millions in the US who depend on global tourism. And it will spur economic recovery by enabling some of the key business travel markets.” will give.” willie walshaw said.
IATA has been calling for months to lift travel restrictions “guided by science” and to take into account the vaccination status of travelers.
Europe’s airlines were hoping to reopen transatlantic routes in time for the major summer holiday season.
But as Europe reopened its internal borders, Washington remained cautious. And this year transatlantic traffic was less than half of the levels recorded in 2019.
Colin said the US decision was “actually a little later than we expected, given how effective we know vaccines are. We expected it in the summer.” scarola, an analyst at CFRA Research.
But even if European airlines are now ready to restart engines for more planes flying across the Atlantic, the recovery will be slow, warned George dimitroffAscend by Cerium, an analyst at Air Transportation Data Specialist.
“We would not expect to see an immediate increase in airline schedules, except on the busiest routes,” he said.
“Additional capacity may be added around the year-end holiday period, but a more significant improvement is expected in March 2022, when airlines gear up for their summer schedule,” he said.
Burket Huey, an analyst at Morningstar, pointed out that “if you don’t fill a plane at 75-80 percent, the trip won’t be profitable. You need passengers on both sides.”
Dimitroff said he expects “business travel to begin in the fourth quarter of this year … as European business travelers will be able to meet US customers and suppliers.”
But analyst Scarola was more cautious.
“While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it doesn’t really improve the uncertainty about two key things that are essential to international travel recovery: how the pandemic is going to play out in the coming months.. .and will a large part of business travel disappear because of the virtual meeting tools now available?”
.