Airlines have taken up battle positions to welcome vaccinated travelers from 33 countries from tomorrow, Monday, who will now be allowed to return to the United States after 18 months with the border closed.
Air France, British Airways, United Airlines … to meet the demand, the companies that are usually very dependent on the transatlantic and transatlantic connections, add flights, choose bigger planes, ensure that the staff will be sufficient.
The announcement by the White House of lifting the restrictions has been expected for months by separated families, business travelers rushing to meet their customers or ordinary tourists: because of the virus, Washington had drastically restricted passengers from those countries, including Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, China, India and Brazil.
Immediately the air ticket reservations jumped. British Airways has seen searches for flights to and from some US cities increase by 900% for the days before Christmas, compared to searches in the week before the US government’s announcement.
At American Airlines, bookings the day after the announcement jumped 66% to the United Kingdom, 40% to Europe and 74% to Brazil.
The flights on November 8, the opening date, were closed shortly afterwards, according to Evelyn and Jean-Michel Desobo.
Looking forward to seeing their daughter and son-in-law in New York, they had booked tickets for November 2 using their miles as soon as the first rumors circulated about reopening the border.
But when they wanted to change the reservation for November 8, the number of miles required had tripled, indicative of strong demand. They will finally arrive on November 9, at a more reasonable price.
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