Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, said that shortly after the US administration announced the lifting of the Schengen travel ban, flight bookings rose 40 percent in the past few days.
Earlier this week, US officials said the 20-month travel ban would soon be lifted for passengers arriving from the Schengen area, the UK, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.
Thus, according to the new rules, travelers from all of the above zones and countries will be allowed to enter the United States starting in November, provided they have proof of vaccination against COVID-19 disease, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to a press release from the Lufthansa Group, in recent months the company has been constantly expanding its flight schedule between Europe and the United States, which indicates that it is already possible to book flights to the United States.
Moreover, it was stressed that starting in November, those planning to travel to the United States will have a full range of flights at their disposal.
Commenting on the event, Lufthansa CEO Karsten Spohr said the lifting of travel restrictions is great news for everyone and an important step out of the crisis for airlines.
“Starting November, families and friends will finally be able to see each other again, and business partners will personally rebuild and deepen their relationship,” Spor added.
Since Lufthansa has included a digital check-in option for multiple flights, which involves EU COVID-19 certified individuals, travel from the EU to the US is expected to be smoother.
Thus, thanks to the new verification system, passengers with a valid vaccination or recovery certificate can now present a document via their smartphone. In addition, QR codes can now be easily scanned, which means that physical verification of documents is no longer necessary.
In addition, the company previously announced that certain requirements must be met in order to be allowed to land. According to a statement released by Lufthansa, passengers are not allowed to wear cloth masks on board. They will only be allowed to land with a surgical mask and other valveless masks.
Regarding vaccination rules when entering the United States, the EU Commission has assured that all Europeans vaccinated with an EMA-approved vaccine will be allowed to enter the country.
However, with the United States keeping its borders closed for quite some time now, it is still unclear whether those vaccinated with a vaccine listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use will be allowed entry. Translated by www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)