Hopes that the great British getaway would be possible this summer grew on Wednesday, with easyJet predicting that most of Europe would be open for travel and British Airways confident on routes to the U.S., despite ongoing uncertainty. Europe’s travel industry, battered by the pandemic, is counting on British holidaymakers to lead a tourism rebound this summer. After one of the world’s fastest vaccination programmes, Britons could be permitted to travel from late May. But over the last month, a third wave of coronavirus infections in continental Europe has cast doubts on the bumper return of travel. FILE PHOTO: A British Airways Embraer ERJ-170STD aircraft lands next to a EasyJet plane ready for take off at Cointrin airport in Geneva, Switzerland September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Deni...
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Greece to lift quarantine rule for more travelers, Denmark to open borders from May 1 European Union countries formally agreed on Wednesday to launch COVID travel passes as a step towards reopening to tourism this summer and will negotiate details with the bloc’s lawmakers in May, two diplomatic sources said. This decision comes when many European countries are announcing reopening for summer travel in phased manner. Latest to take such decision are Greece and Denmark. The certificates would allow those vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19 or with negative test results to travel more easily in the EU, where restrictions on movement have weighed heavily on the travel and tourist industry for over a year. FILE PHOTO: A couple is seen next to rows of empty hammocks during the coronav...
Read MoreEuropean Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Sunday that he hoped Europe will have a summer tourist season this year, supported by a ramp-up in its COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Breton, who heads the European Union’s executive’s vaccine task force, reiterated on RTL radio and TV channel LCI that the European Union should deliver 420 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by mid-July, enough to allow the bloc to reach collective immunity. FILE PHOTO: A man dives at Agios Nikitas beach on the island of Lefkada, Greece. REUTERS/Dimitris Rapakousis “We have to shift to the next gear,” he said of the EU’s vaccination campaign. “This will be the price for having a tourist season that I hope will be comparable to last year’s, which in the end wasn’t so bad in the context ...
Read MoreEurope’s airlines and travel sector are bracing for a second lost summer, with rebound hopes increasingly challenged by a hobbled COVID-19 vaccine rollout, resurgent infections and new lockdowns. Airline and travel stocks fell on Friday after Paris and much of northern France shut down for a month, days after Italy introduced stiff business and movement curbs for most of the country including Rome and Milan. The setbacks hit recovery prospects for the crucial peak season, whose profits typically tide airlines through winter, when most carriers lose money even in good times. “If there’s no confidence there, demand just doesn’t come back,” said Dublin-based Alton Aviation consultant Leah Ryan, who expects the bad news on vaccines and lockdowns to hurt already weak bookings. FILE PHOTO...
Read MoreAs arctic temperature froze rivers and lakes in northern Germany, workers at houseboat charter companies were already gearing up for what they expect to be a busy summer season. Cross-border travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic last summer prompted a run on domestic tourism, including on floating accommodation. Many expect that 2021 will be no different. FILE PHOTO: Kormoran boats lie in icy water at the dock from the houseboat rental company Kuhnle Tours on lake Claassee near Rechlin, Germany, February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/ “I think that big trips abroad and flying will still not be the dominant type of vacation for people this summer,” Dagmar Kuhnle, spokeswoman at the Kuhnle Tour houseboat charter company in the northeastern Mecklenburg lake district,...
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