Delta Air Lines is seeing a major uplift in bookings, as the USA prepares to reopen, with a reported uplift of 450% in forward bookings.
Delta Airbus A330-300 departing Dublin Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
Delta has seen a 450% increase in international point-of-sale bookings versus the six weeks before the announcement. Many international flights are expected to operate 100% full on Monday, 8th November, with high passenger volume throughout the following weeks.
For Delta, the change in US immigration rules impacts 33 countries around the world, with Delta serving 10 of these nonstop and more via its hubs in connection with its partners, including Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic.
According to the airline, there is strong demand across both leisure and business travellers to destinations such as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston and Orlando.
In total, the airline will operate 139 flights from 55 international destinations in 38 countries landing in the USA on the 8th of November, offering more than 25,000 seats to its passengers.
Flight DL106 from Sao Paulo to Atlanta will be Delta’s first international flight to touch down in the U.S. under the new rules on Monday at 09:35.
Scaling up the International Network
With transatlantic travel “returning”, along with consumer confidence to book flights, Delta is increasing flights this winter from European cities. Examples of the network scale-up include:
- London – Boston
- London- Detroit
- London – New York-JFK
- Amsterdam – Boston
- Dublin – New York-JFK
- Frankfurt – New York-JFK
- Munich – Atlanta
Delta’s hub in Atlanta will see 56 international departures a day to 39 destinations. Meanwhile, the New York-JFK hub will see 28 daily departures to 21 international cities.
In Quotes
Ed Bastian, Delta’s CEO said
“This is the start of a new era for travel and for many people around the world who have not been able to see loved ones for almost two years,”
“While we have seen many countries reopen their borders to American visitors over the summer, our international customers have not been able to fly with us or visit the U.S. All of that changes now. We’re grateful to the U.S. government for lifting travel restrictions and are looking forward to reuniting families, friends and colleagues over the coming days and weeks.”
Planning to enter the USA?
I’m going to have a much deeper in-depth post about this (probably coming out during the weekend), but here’s the summary from Delta:
Foreign nationals will be permitted to enter the U.S. with proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of departure. Non-vaccinated foreign nationals may enter the U.S. only if they meet criteria for very limited exceptions and commit to post-arrival testing, quarantine and vaccination. Customers must also provide details to meet U.S. contact tracing requirements. More information on entry requirements is available at Delta’s Travel Planning Center and through official U.S. government resources.
A Delta passenger requirement will be that all customers 2 and older must wear a face-covering throughout the journey.
It looks like 8th November is going to be busy in the air
Airlines are getting ready for the 8th November – it’s been obvious for weeks since the US government made its announcement to open its borders for passengers, with routes being reinstated and frequencies increased.
Passengers are responding to this as they seek to meet in person, be it for business, pleasure or to meet with families after a long period of separation (remember, some people don’t want to fly, or have not been in a position to fly thanks to the past 18 months or so).
For those passengers, airlines are seeking to capitalise both on the surge – and more importantly – keeping those customers coming back.
I’m looking forward to transatlantic travel again (and depending on things, I might try to do something for the year-end) and for me – to reconnect with those I’ve missed.
But for those preparing to travel – just ensure you have done all the paperwork. Be it vaccination status, pre-tests if needed and of course. your ESTA.
Your ESTA still does work, doesn’t it? If in doubt, it might be time to renew at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
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