In the two weeks since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dropped the inbound testing rule for all travelers, airline ticket purchases have gone up.
According to Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), ticket purchases for all U.S. outbound travel have experienced a noticeable increase since the CDC’s announcement. To note: In the previous five weeks, levels for all U.S. outbound international travel ticket purchases were just below or at 2019 levels, but since the announcement, have been 2.5 percent (week ending June 12) and 6.2 percent (week ending June 19) above 2019 levels.
ARC also shared how the news is affecting travel to Europe. Its research shows that recovery hasn’t been even across the continent, with some countries experiencing higher ticket sales from U.S. point of origin, while others have stayed relatively or continued along their normal recovery patterns. Portugal, for instance, is up over 385 percent since the announcement, moving from -4.2 percent of 2019 levels to 12 percent over 2019.
Other countries seeing positive results since the U.S. dropped the testing rule include France (+3 percent), Germany (+26.4 percent), Greece (+55.4 percent), Italy (+32.6 percent), the Netherlands (+0.6 percent), Spain (+2.7 percent) and the United Kingdom (+6.9 percent).
Source: ARC
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