Transatlantic travel soars as Americans make most of strong dollar

Transatlantic travel is booming, driving airline revenue as Americans armed with a strong US dollar fly to Europe and the UK. Revenue at United Airlines from trips between the US and Europe rose 40 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2019, to $2.5b. The average fare on those trips climbed 30% compared with a year earlier. The strong dollar has been “useful” in prompting US travellers to book trips to Europe, said United’s CCO Andrew Nocella. What was an “incredible” summer season has maintained momentum into the autumn. The airline debuted multiple new routes last summer, flying 14 per cent more seats across the Atlantic than it did in 2019, and it plans to add more routes next year. “It’s full speed ahead across the Atlantic,” Nocella said. All three big US carriers reported an increase in transatlantic revenue compared with 2019, and many European airlines also have benefited from an uptick in demand. Executives and analysts attribute the increase to the rising value of the dollar against the pound and euro. The pound now trades at $1.12, while the euro is at $1.02. The dollar’s influence appears in the direction of travel. Data from Dohop, a flight connections bookings platform used by more than 60 airlines including Spirit, Avianca and Air France, showed that passenger traffic from North America to Europe increased faster throughout the year than the reverse. Outbound passenger traffic between May and August from North America was 2.8 times higher than between January and April. But Europe to North America passenger traffic during the summer was just less than double the level between January and April.<br/>