New research from ForwardKeys reveals that flight bookings to the US have soared following two announcements that the destination would reopen to vaccinated foreign travellers in November.
By mid-October, weekly bookings exceeded 70% of pre-pandemic levels.
The first announcement was made on 20 September, when the White House said that visitors from the UK, Ireland, the 26 Schengen countries, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil would be allowed to enter the US, without being subject to quarantine, provided they were fully vaccinated.
That caused an immediate reaction, with week-on-week bookings from the UK jumping 83%, from Brazil jumping 71%, and from the EU jumping 185%.
The second announcement was made on 15 October, when the US president’s assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz named 8 November as the date restrictions would be relaxed. Week-on-week bookings climbed higher still, jumping 15% from the UK, 26% from the EU and 100% from Brazil.
Juan Gómez, head of market intelligence at ForwardKeys, says: “This data yet again demonstrates the enormous pent-up demand for travel. Immediately people heard that they would be allowed to visit the US again; they booked; and a substantial proportion booked to fly as soon as they could.
“It is also interesting to note that bookings climbed higher once a specific date was given. That is not entirely surprising for two reasons.
“First, the certainty of a specific date inspires confidence. Second, those wanting to travel before the end of November could not afford to make a commitment until they knew for sure that they could travel when they wanted to. I am optimistic that in the coming weeks, we will see a steep increase in bookings to the US for the Christmas period.”