Europe’s Airports Face Chaos as Travelers Return


In an echo of what American carriers are facing as Omicron spreads, easyJet said hundreds of cancellations were due to coronavirus-related crew absences. British Airways is also struggling with staff malaise, but said most of its flights continue to operate as planned.

On Tuesday, Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, said he expects the rise in Covid infections in the UK and other parts of Europe to decline by now, but that has yet to happen. Until then, we will continue to monitor the situation.”

Still, the airline delivered 94 percent of its scheduled schedule last week, the highest number of flights operated since 2019 and is confident it can return to a near-pandemic schedule by summer, Mr. Lungren said.

One of the biggest concerns for American travelers is the pre-departure coronavirus testing required to return home; they thought this could mean they would stay abroad if they tested positive. Among the major tourist destinations of the West, the United States is a standoff, continuing to demand a negative test for entry; The Netherlands, Ireland and Jamaica have recently lifted the requirement.

The US travel industry is pushing the Biden administration to lower both the testing requirement and the mask requirement for airplanes and other public transport. The American Travel Advisors Association, or ASTA, said the need for inbound testing is the biggest obstacle to the full recovery of the international travel system.

On Wednesday, the US government announced It said it would extend a mandate for another two weeks that requires passengers to wear masks on public transport, including airplanes and airports. It has not addressed the future of the pre-arrival testing requirement.

Travel demand for European destinations is recovering among American travelers, but waned when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. In a new survey 1,300 Americans by travel app tripIt, 33 percent of the respondents said that they will travel abroad until June. Travel booking site Hopper said in March: 15 percent of international bookings on his site were for US travel to Europe, has dropped 6 percent since the invasion. In 2019, United States travel to Europe accounted for 30 percent of international bookings on the site.



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