United adds summer flights to Iceland, Greece and Croatia in hopes of vaccinations boosting trip rebound

United Airlines said Monday it will add flights to Iceland, Croatia and Greece for the summer in hopes that relaxed entry requirements will boost demand for popular tourist destinations.

Most of continental Europe remains out of bounds for most U.S. citizens, and airline executives last week were pessimistic that they would change the time for the summer holidays.

But United is picking some European destinations that have already eased travel restrictions or are expected in the coming weeks.

“He’s been creating pop in searches,” said Patrick Quayle, vice president of international networking and alliances at United.

The carrier will add a flight from Chicago-Reykjavík from July 1 to October 3 after Iceland last month announced it would allow tourists from outside Europe to visit without quarantine if they can prove the Covid-19 vaccine.

Following this announcement, Delta Air Lines said it would resume service from Iceland from New York and Minneapolis and add a flight to Boston. United had previously announced Newark’s service to Iceland will run from June 3 to October 29.

United will also add Newark service to Dubrovnik, Croatia, three times a week from July 8 to October 3. This country allows visitors to demonstrate a negative Covid-19 test or a vaccination test.

Greece, last month, said it would open its borders in mid-May to vaccinated tourists or those showing a recent negative Covid test result, Reuters reported last week that the change could happen as early as this week.

United said it plans to add a Washington Dulles flight to Athens that will operate from July 1 to October 3, in addition to its Newark-Athens service, which it hopes to resume in June. 3.

International service continues to decline, although more people are being vaccinated and some travel restrictions have been lifted.

In May, international flights will account for 40% of United’s total capacity, down from 45% in the same month in 2019. Domestic leisure demand has recovered to levels close to the pre-pandemic, according to say executives recently. American Airlines and Delta say they will land large aircraft this summer, typically used for long-haul international flights.

One of the brightest spots internationally for United has been North Latin America, as have Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Quayle said. He said he does not expect the rest of Europe to open immediately, although United will resume service from Newark to Milan and Rome and from Chicago to Munich and Amsterdam next month.

“I am very optimistic that the UK and the US are creating an air bridge between the two countries,” he said.