Spring and summer are busy times for travel, with people going on vacations. But two major airlines are warning tourists are avoiding one popular destination this year.
Um, did anyone have the United States? No?! Apparently, European tourists are hesitant about visiting America due to plain old-fashioned politics. Europe disagrees with the current administration's take on immigration and the border as well as tariffs and trade policy. Two major airlines have reported a weaker number of booking for America so far this year.
Air France and Lufthansa mentioned that they've seen fewer tickets being booked. For instance, Air France said it saw a 2.4 percent decrease in bookings to America from Europe for May and June. Tickets are lower compared to the same time frame last year. The major airlines spoke with The Financial Times about the surprising find in their data.
"We know there are a lot of customers that are holding back in buying tickets for a little more clarity on... the border, and things like that," Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said.
Major Airlines Speak Out
Likewise, Lufthansa also reported a hesitation from Europeans to visit America during the summer as well. Tickets appear to be down, especially coming from northern Europe. "When it comes to vacation trips to the US, especially from the German, Austrian and Swiss markets, it's easy to imagine conversations around the kitchen table where families are saying, 'We don't know yet if we really want to go,'" CEO Carsten Spohr explained on the airline's earnings call on Tuesday.
However, it appears Americans are willing to continue to travel to Europe in droves this summer. But the decrease spells disaster for these airlines, which make more than half of their profits from flights to and from Europe. Still, airlines are hopeful that things will begin to pick up as trade dealings soften between U.S. and Europe.
"The discussions about tariffs are no longer as heated as they were four weeks ago," he told analysts. "That is why we believe that some of these bookings will be recovered in the coming weeks."
Given the decreased demand, Lufthansa will decrease the number of transatlantic flights by 3 percent for the last half of the year.
