LONDON— British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. are pushing for the establishment of a travel corridor between the U.K. and U.S. without requirements for expensive Covid-19 tests and quarantines on both sides of the Atlantic, as carriers here try to capitalize on a robust vaccination drive and falling coronavirus cases.
Contrasting that optimism, Air France-KLM Group said it won approval for another large government-financed lifeline as it faces months of reduced traffic amid soaring infections and slow vaccination efforts across continental Europe.
The diverging tacks highlight how a resumption of air travel is moving at significantly different speeds around the world. In the U.S., airlines are gearing up for a busy summer amid a relatively smooth vaccination drive across the country in recent months. Chinese travelers returned to airports in droves late last year, though traffic fell again at the start of the year as Covid-19 cases picked up in some parts of the country.
Travel between countries, meanwhile, has remained largely grounded amid a wide array of country-specific travel restrictions. That has hampered European carriers, dependent on international service.
“Large domestic markets are doing great,” said Alex Irving, an aviation analyst at Bernstein. ”Of course, Europe doesn’t have that. Ultimately it depends on vaccine rollouts when governments will be comfortable unlocking their borders.”
