US agrees to trans-Atlantic travel restart

PARIS. European trans-Atlantic airlines reacted jubilantly to a US move to allow most vaccinated foreigners to enter the country, ending a ban that’s been in place since March 2020.

Shares of British Airways parent IAG SA, Air FranceKLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG all surged following the Monday announcement, which made clear those without Covid-19 inoculations will still be unwelcome.

The US relaxing of travel rules is “fantastic news for our group,” Air France-KLM Chief Executive Officer Ben Smith said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We expect a return of 2019 traffic numbers to move forward very quickly.” The North Atlantic corridor connecting the U.S. and Europe was the single most profitable corner of the aviation market before the coronavirus crisis.