Airlines Petition Governments to Start Testing to Resume US-European Travel
In the letter to US and EU officials, CEOs seek mutual COVID-19 tests to restart transatlantic travel that has been closed to Americans
The CEOs of United Airlines, American Airlines, Lufthansa and IAG have signed a letter petitioning the EU and the US to allow mutual COVID-19 testing, which would ultimately lead to the return of transatlantic travel.
According to AP reports, the letter was signed by Scott Kirby for United, Carsten Spohr for Lufthansa, Doug Parker for American, and Willie Walsh at IAG, owner of British Airways and Iberia.
The letter was sent on Tuesday to Vice President Mike Pence and to Ylva Johansson, the European commissioner for home affairs calling for a program to open up the most lucrative corridor of travel in the industry and one that has been closed to US citizens since the COVID-19 shutdowns.
The letter said, in part, that “given the unquestioned importance of transatlantic air travel to the global economy as well as to the economic recovery of our businesses, we believe it is critical to find a way to re-open air services between the US and Europe.”
It went on to state that a testing program would “be an excellent opportunity for government and industry to work together…to safely restore passenger travel between the US and Europe.”
