A Delta Air Lines Airbus A330neo or A330-900 aircraft with neo-engine option from the European aircraft manufacturer, as seen in the final approach to land at Amsterdam Schiphol AMS EHAM International Airport after a transatlantic flight of long distance.
Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Intending to take a European holiday this summer? You may not be lucky.
The borders of much of Europe have been closed to most U.S. citizens and vice versa for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Airline executives said Thursday they did not expect them to open in time during the high summer season.
Travel industry leaders have pressured the Biden administration to come up with a plan to reopen borders, including rules for health documentation, such as testing a Covid-19 vaccine.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a quarterly call that the company is focusing on lifting restrictions that have hampered travel between the United States and the United Kingdom, but that other popular tourist destinations may take longer.
The White House did not comment immediately.
This week, Britain eased the blocking restrictions, allowing pubs, hairdressers and retail stores to reopen. France and Italy, on the other hand, reinstated temporary closures last month to curb new Covid-19 infections and vaccine distribution has been slow across Europe.
“When you think about other parts of Europe, there may be some occasional markets open this summer based on the leisure traffic in the southern Mediterranean that will interest people,” Bastian said in the call. “But I don’t think you’ll see continental Europe open up significantly until the end of the year. We’ll probably unfortunately miss much of the summer in most of continental Europe.”
Delta and rivals such as American Airlines and United Airlines have said domestic travel has risen sharply from the depths of the pandemic, but international travel, which still faces a network of entry restrictions and a delay in vaccinations , remain weak.
Delta said Thursday that its domestic passenger revenue fell 66 percent to $ 2.3 billion in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2019, but transatlantic revenue was 87 percent lower, at $ 142 million, while the trans-Pacific fell 89%, to $ 62 million.
Naples, Italy, against Naples, Florida
U.S. airlines have refocused their global networks, once extensive, toward national destinations, particularly those that offer outdoor attractions such as beaches and mountains. Airlines have added service to tourist attractions in Florida, Wyoming and Montana. Demand for beach destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico has also increased.
American Airlines announced Wednesday, for example, that it would bring its national summer schedule to almost the same levels as in 2019.
Brian Znotins, vice president of network planning for American Airlines, told CNBC that demand for European summer vacations will be difficult to generate even if borders open next season.
“European holidays are usually planned months in advance,” he said. “So people today, if you want to take a trip this summer, which is a lot of people, they don’t feel very safe booking a trip to Rome and so they will make this hotel reservation in Jackson Hole or Honolulu or Cancun “.
“Don’t expect demand to appear until the day after a country opens, especially from a leisure standpoint,” he said.