As Europe cracks the door open to visitors, airlines pounce with new trans-Atlantic flights

Major airlines are racing to add new trans-Atlantic service now that tourist-reliant countries like Croatia, Greece, Iceland and Italy have started allowing visitors from the US and other nations for the first time in a year. Delta started service to Reykjavik, Iceland from Boston on May 20. It then restarted nonstops to the Icelandic capital from Minneapolis a week later. Service from New York started May 1. United Airlines’ first service to Dubrovnik starts July 1 from its Newark, New Jersey hub. The airline plans to add July-October flights to Athens from Washington-Dulles next month on top of its service from Newark that started earlier this month. Carriers are also beefing up schedules to Spain, Portugal and Italy as those countries open up, too. American Airlines, for example, pushed up service from Philadelphia to Athens to the second half of August, and to Rome from both Philadelphia and Chicago in September — routes it expected to resume next summer. The quick flight launches show airlines’ scramble to drive up revenue and stem pandemic losses that total more than $32b for Delta, United and American combined. Airlines generally like to unveil new international destinations with fanfare several months and sometimes close to a year in advance. <br/>