Rising Internationl Flight Fares to Europe from America

Most of the Europe is shut till June 15th. The American and other carriers which have plans to open up flights to Europe have increased their fares across all classes of travel. And, these are not nominal increases. Normally, you would expect an international flight ticket to Europe to range between USD 700 to 900 for return economy class travel. However, when the outbreak happened the prices of Delta tickets had slumped to about $300 economy return. But if the present air tickets prices are to go by, as per Delta Airlines ticket fares, these would be about $2200-2300 for economy return ticket. This is a sharp increase, about 3 times of the normal during pre-Covid times. When travelers are expecting airlines to cut down on fares to stimulate demand, this increase might come as a surprise for them. What is the rationale behind this?

Experts point out that this is not surprising. Airlines know very well that demand is not going to pick up anytime soon for the transatlantic flights. This is because Europe and America have both taken a huge brunt of the disease. Only those who have to travel due to an urgent need will be traveling. Secondly, the airlines will be operating with a maximum load factor of about 62% as the airlines will have to meet the requirements of social distancing and keep some seats empty. This is going to be a further drain unless prices of air tickets are raised. Under normal circumstances, the industry average for breaking even was at 77% of load factor. The aviation industry experts have stated that the airfares have to increase by about 50 percent on an average basis and variation could be large depending on the sectors of travel.

New Long-Haul Flights Between U.S. And Pakistan

Because of the coronavirus, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will – for the first time in 14 years – be able to use its long-range aircraft as intended.

PIA long wanted to fly non-stop to the U.S. from Pakistan, so in 2006 it acquired a pair of Boeing BA 777-200LRs that would finally make the 13 plus hour trip possible.

The -200LR was a long-range variant so new that PIA was the first airline to receive the type. Yet PIA never got to use the aircraft as intended.
AIR Boeing.

The U.S. did not permit non-stop flights, citing airport security in Pakistan. Instead, PIA had to continue flying via Manchester in the U.K. so the flight could be screened in a country with approved security.

The stopover negated the need for the more expensive ultra-long-haul -200LR.
PIA could have instead increased its fleet of other, less costly, 777 variants. Delta last month said it would retire its -200LRs, a few years younger than PIA’s, by the end of 2020.
Now due to the pandemic, the U.S. is approving PIA to fly non-stop from Pakistan. It is on a limited basis: PIA can only fly up to 12 round-trip charters, and only when using its two -200LRs.

The first non-stop charter left Islamabad on May 31 and arrived in Newark 13 hours and 39 minutes later, according to Flightradar24. PIA had been flying to Newark during the pandemic via London and Manchester. It served Washington, D.C., via Toronto.

The prior forced stopover in another country was so inefficient and costly that PIA ceased flying to the U.S. in 2017. PIA was able to make use of the -200LR’s range by having non-stop flights to Toronto, but that was not PIA’s primary intent for the aircraft.

Also caught out was Philippine Airlines (PAL), which acquired new Boeing 777s for U.S. flights.

Yet when PAL’s first 777-300ER arrived in 2009, the Philippines was downgraded to FAA Category 2. That status allowed PAL to keep flying to the U.S. but without any changes, such as using the new 777 it purposely acquired for the U.S. market.

PAL also had to use the aircraft elsewhere, such as Canada, until the Philippines regained Category 1 status in 2014. That allowed PAL to finally deploy the 777s to the U.S.

Some industry observers wonder if PAL and PIA assumed, or had informal assurances, that buying Boeing aircraft would see the U.S. help the countries improve safety and earn the right designations.

Airlines and Their International Flights Status

American Airlines

The company has announced the suspension of over 60% of international flights for this summer compared to the same period of time last year. It will also delay the launch of several new routes it had planned to fly from Philadelphia and Los Angeles. That being said, plans to kick off services are in place. Expect flights from Miami to Lima, Quito, Guayaquil, Santiago and Sao Paulo in a few weeks; from Dallas to Madrid some time in May; and from Chicago to Dublin, London and Athens in June.

Delta

Although it has cut about 85% of its both domestic and international flights compared to the same time frame last year, the airline has resumed trips from Atlanta to St. Croix, St. Thomas, San Juan, San Pedro Sula, San Salvdor, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Paris, Lima, San Jose, Guatemala City, Buenos Aires, Cancun, Liberia, Nassau, Providenciales, Quito, Santiago and Sao Paulo; from Detroit to Amsterdam, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Seoul and Tokyo; from Minneapolis to Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg; from New York to Toronto, Santo Domingo and Santiago; from Salt Lake City to Mexico City; and from Seattle to Vancouver, Seoul and Tokyo. The airline announced it's constantly monitoring the situation and hopes to add new routes in the near future, all throughout the summer.

Southwest

Starting June 7, Southwest will start flying from Baltimore to Cancun, Montego Bay and Nassau; from Denver and Houston to Cancun and Los Cabos; from Orlando to Montego Bay; and from Tampa to Havana.

United Airlines

Through the pandemic, the airline has continued to fly to European and South American destinations, albeit at a reduced capacity. The carrier has announced plans to open up some other routes in June, including flights from Newark to Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo; from San Francisco to Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai; and trips to and from Frankfurt.

Air India Repatriation Flights to US- Vande Bharat Flights

The third phase of India’s repatriation drive, Vande Bharat Mission is set to commence on June 9 and will be carried out until June 30.
Under this, the national carrier Air India will operate 75 more flights to destinations in USA and Canada, said civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri in a tweet.
India started the Vande Bharat Mission on May 7, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express operated 64 flights to bring 14,800 Indians back whereas, which is ongoing, over 149 flights have been arranged to bring back 30,000 stranded nationals from 31 countries.
As per the recent update, more than 50,000 Indian citizens have been brought back to the country under Vande Bharat Mission.
Meanwhile, international commercial passenger flights remain suspended until June 30.
Elaborating on this, Puri said “Numerous citizens have been approaching us to restart international flights. Several factors need to be addressed. Many international destinations are not allowing incoming passenger traffic, except for their own citizens or diplomats.
“Ministry of Home Affairs’ guidelines for lockdown 5.0 have further opened up inter and intra-state travel and will facilitate calibrated reopening of the sector. As we move towards the critical mass of 50-60 per cent operation of domestic flights, our ability to resume international operations will also improve.”

US Flight Resumptions By Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines will be expanding its flights to the United States in July. The announcement from the airline comes just days after international flights were resumed to four destinations within the US. The carrier will expand its services to Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Washing DC to include Houston, New York, and San Fransisco.
Turkish Airlines will be expanding its US flights from July 1st.
After facing several delays, Turkish Airlines finally resumed flying to the US last week following the grounding of flights due to COVID-19. We reported on Friday that Turkish Airlines would be reinstating flights to some US cities, flying 12 times a week to four destinations. The carrier has since announced that this will be expanding in July to include three further routes. This will increase the number of services to 24 a week during July.
The carrier will keep its thrice-weekly services to Chicago, Washington DC, and Miami until the end of July 2020. The route to Los Angeles will continue to fly three times a week until the end of June. From July 1st, this will increase to four times a week.

From July 1st, flights to New York will commence, with five flights offered per week. Three flights per week to San Francisco will follow on July 15th. Lastly, on July 26th, three flights to Houston will be added to the schedule.
As Turkey has now lifted all entry requirements and restrictions for foreign nationals, its national flag carrier is ramping up its services as it attempts to reinstate its global network. From July, the carrier will add Toronto and Montreal to its routes in North America. The airline will also finally launch scheduled flights to Vancouver in August, after a two-month delay. This new route will be its 15th destination in North America.

Aside from North America, Turkish Airlines is increasing flights to other international destinations during June and July. The number of domestic routes is also set to increase. Current plans show that during July, the airline plans to operate 40 domestic routes and fly to 123 international destinations. If these flights operate as planned, Turkish Airlines will be flying 80% of its pre-corona domestic schedule and 40% of its international routes.

Last week Turkish Airlines was reported as the busiest operator in Europe. Eurocontrol, an organization that supports European aviation, said that Turkish Airlines had 400 flights in the Eurocontrol area on June 18th. This was the first time that an airline has had this many planes in the area since March 24th.

International Flights To Start on Basis of Reciprocity

U.S. officials said, as the situation is still fluid and there are still fears of a resurgence of the virus in countries now reporting lower caseloads.

But Washington is clear on one thing - people from other countries should not be allowed into the United States if Americans still are not allowed to travel to those nations, the senior U.S. official said.

However, with the virus still rampant in the United States, which has the highest number of cases in the world, some countries may be hesitant to accept U.S. travelers any time soon.

The European Union on Wednesday pushed to reopen internal borders and restart travel, but recommended Europe’s external borders remain closed for most travel at least until mid-June.[L8N2CV2U0]
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks through the empty international terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., amid reports of the coronavirus, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

While there has been some talk in the administration of reopening borders to travelers from Europe first, officials are mindful that many of the initial infections in the United States originated in Italy.

“I think coordination between governments is going to be key,” Virginia Messina, managing director with the World Travel and Tourism Council, said. “You are going to need those bilateral agreements.”

When the United States restricted international flight ticket booking from Europe it was effectively a blanket ban. Unwinding that ban and replacing it with agreements with individual European countries could be a much longer process.

Lifting the restrictions will also require a series of choreographed steps by different U.S. government agencies.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department will need to dial back travel advisories calling for Americans to avoid all international travel before the United States can allow in travelers from restricted countries, according to Lora Ries, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation and former Trump administration homeland security official.

The blanket advisory is likely to be replaced by more country-specific warnings, depending on the state of the pandemic in the relevant countries or region.

Restoring the flow of travelers into the United States could help boost the economy in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. The Washington-based U.S. Travel Association estimated that spending by international travelers supported 1.2 million U.S. jobs and $33.6 billion in wages in 2019, economic activity that has been wiped out by the pandemic.

But the priority is to restore confidence in U.S. domestic air travel before turning attention to international travel, said Tori Emerson Barnes, an executive vice president with the U.S. Travel Association, a pro-industry nonprofit organization.

“I think that it will be a slow opening, unfortunately,” she said.

Where to Look for Online Flight Deals on International Flight Bookings?

International flights are set to begin as soon as the time and the arrangements permit. There is already a talk of beginning the green channel of flights which means that the flights could begin between two cities provided they agree on the arrangements made to ensure passenger and crew safety. Quite naturally, in anticipation of this beginning, the travelers are already looking for deals. Whether the airlines or agencies will provide any deal or not remains to be seen but the travelers are already planning ahead to make the kill.

The online flight deals can be found quite visible to public at large or hidden away at some resource which only a few can access. So, where to look for the international flight deals?

The first obvious choice is to go to social media sites to look for these. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other top social media sites are some of these platforms where you can expect to find a deal.

The second type of online resources could be the bargain sites or deals sites, which provide multi-category deals. Since the airlines are looking to get back their passenger numbers, these would be using all those sites which have good traffic. Deals offering sites are certainly one among these.

If the airline wants to target certain specific community of people, such as linguistic or ethnicity, they can provide deals on those websites which are popular among these. One example in this respect could be targeting the Spanish speaking communities living in US for encouraging them to travel to Mexico. The deals could be provided on Spanish websites.

Search engines are the obvious choice for finding the online air ticket deals. All of the online resources that would be offering deals can be found here, provided these have allowed to be indexed by Google. You shall ideally look for the offer beyond the first page as there could be many sites which do not find place in top 10 ranks but might have good deals.