James Warren
US airline American Airlines have resumed flights between two major airports and Spain’s capitals Madrid and Barcelona for the first time since December.
Last Christmas, American Airlines announced it was suspending flights from airports such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and New York to Spain due to the increase in COVID-19 cases during Spain’s third wave.
However according to the airline, flights are being tentatively resumed from Miami and Dallas Fort Worth, albeit with strict inter-country restrictions.
In total, 7,020 seats will be available between Miami and Barcelona, while 8,550 seats will be available between Dallas and Madrid.
Currently, travel between the two countries is permitted however it must only be under certain circumstances and travellers must provide a negative PCR test and quarantine depending on regional laws.
The reopening of Spain / USA links come as the UK has hinted at a reopening of airspace by the summer and has advised that UK travellers can ‘start thinking about’ booking summer holidays.
Ryanair, TUI and Easyjet, all of whom have continued to operate limited flights during the later stages of the pandemic, have advised customers that flight schedules may change at extremely short notice, whilst Jet2 have suspended flights altogether until June 23.
Jet2 Executive Chief Steve Heapy has slammed the UK government for their vague ‘framework’ plans to reopen European travel for the summer, and claim that latest announcements have left the airline no choice but to suspend until further notice.
“We have taken time to study the Global Travel Taskforce’s framework, and we are extremely disappointed at the lack of clarity and detail,” Heapy told the Guardian.
“Following the publication of the framework today, we still do not know when we can start to fly, where we can fly to and the availability and cost of testing. Rather than answering questions, the framework leaves everyone asking more.”
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