When the US government announced on 20 September its plans to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated UK and European citizens from November, a surge in subsequent bookings showed the extent of the pent-up demand for transatlantic travel.
Businesses and the travel industry remain on tenterhooks with regards the announcement of a specific reopening date, but bookings have nevertheless skyrocketed.
Data provided to BTN Europe from two sources clearly shows how the change in policy impacted transatlantic bookings from 2021 calendar week 38, with Travel Counsellors’ corporate bookings for travel between the UK and US up by 255 per cent compared to week one – and more in the weeks that followed – and numbers from mid-office travel tech specialist Midoco showing a jump of more than 50 per cent in Europe-US bookings on the preceding week.
The change in policy delivered “without doubt… the most dramatic spike in bookings” since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, says David Chappell, country director UK, Midoco.
Although overall volumes remain significantly lower than 2019, Chappell says the surge in bookings for travel from Europe to the US “reflects both the pent-up demand for this destination and the overall susceptibility of the market to shock from policy, both positive and negative”.
Chappell says that recovery across Europe continues to be directly influenced by governmental policy regarding access and testing requirements. “We see changes in trading that correlate closely to this. Currently traffic is largely domestic and intra-Europe, but the recent change to US rules has seen a statistically notable jump in bookings here. Historically, the EU-US trading corridor constitutes a significant percentage of overall transactions.”
For Travel Counsellors, travel to the US represented more than 25 per cent of its corporate air bookings before the pandemic.
“The transatlantic route is extremely important to our clients, especially as we mostly take care of start-ups, disruptors and SMEs,” says Kieran Hartwell, managing director, corporate at Travel Counsellors. “These companies drive the UK economy, and the UK/EU to US plays an important part in that growth.”
Its overall corporate bookings have increased 40 per cent in four weeks in September, with calendar week 39 delivering the highest number of new corporate bookings this financial year and volumes recovering to more than 50 per cent of pre-covid levels.
At the same time, the US has become its most-booked destination – accounting for more than 24 per cent of business – dislodging domestic UK bookings from the top spot (21 per cent) and pushing the UAE into third (12 per cent).
Compared to 2021 calendar week one, corporate bookings were up 255 per cent in week 38, 385 per cent in week 39, 280 per cent in week 40, and 540 per cent in week 41.
Of its corporate bookings for travel to the US, New York was the most popular destination, accounting for 23 per cent of trips, followed by California (13 per cent), Florida (12 per cent) and Texas (8 per cent).
With Gray Dawes also reporting that weekly bookings are now exceeding 50 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes, there is growing expectation that the reopening of travel from the UK and EU to the US will help drive continued recovery.