Predict when flights between US & Europe restarts again...

[NavyCruiser]

With a lot of us Americans flying over Europe for numerous European River Cruises, wondering when they'll allow flights between US & Europe again.

 

Pls stick to just when the earliest you'll think it'll happen.

This is a forum for us River Cruising lovers, so Pls don't insert Politics & other BS about those of us who's positive & looking forward to cruising again...

 

My guess:  early May

[TravelerThom]

6 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

wondering when they'll allow flights between US & Europe again.

Not sure how to answer this. There are numerous flights available TODAY, TOMORROW, etc. There may be restrictions on certain nationalities and quarantines involved, but a number of flights are going NOW. 

[Tapi]

Several airlines are still operating flights between the US and Europe, although on a very reduced schedule. Delta is currently operating flights to London and Amsterdam (where they code share with KLM). American just announced that several routes are returning in June. Others won’t be returning until October, while some won’t operate at all until 2021. 
 

https://news.delta.com/where-delta-flying-outside-us-april-updated
 

 

[Coral]

I think there is a difference when flights start and when river cruises start. I don't think the 2 dates will coincide with each other.

[NavyCruiser]

Alright, river cruising won't start  again until there'll be regular flights returns to normal again, not just a very few special allowed flights today....

[kentchris]

3 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

Alright, river cruising won't start  again until there'll be regular flights returns to normal again, not just a very few special allowed flights today....

The original question was poorly framed as already pointed out. It's unlikely that any country is going to welcome non-essential travellers from any country where SARS-CoV-2 is still infecting more people than their own population. Basically the European tourist industry as a whole will be closed for business for months as it can't be switched on and off as movement lockdowns are relaxed for temporary respite.

.

Edited April 5, 2020 by kentchris

[TravelerThom]

3 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

Alright, river cruising won't start  again until there'll be regular flights returns to normal again, not just a very few special allowed flights today....

I don’t think airlines are under any new (new since Coronavirus became an issue) restrictions on flights. Indeed in some routes cargo flights have actually increased as available freight lift on passenger planes has decreased. The restrictions are on passengers based on nationality, where they have been recently, and how long they will have to quarantine. When passengers (first business, then tourist) don’t face quarantine and are ready to fly, air service will quickly fill in. I think the US to Europe tourist market will be near zero for 2020 between worries about COVID-19 and worries about economics. Even most people with steady jobs and income have lost considerable savings. And cruises probably are going to be the last tourist market to recover - river boats will suffer being tarred with the news of plague ocean ships. I hope I am overly pessimistic, but I foresee very little cruising, ocean or river, in 2020. 

[ural guy]

Unfortunately, Thom is probably correct.  I could see some hope by September for their being local returns to 'normal', but not globally. 

 

Our Tulip cruise was supposed to visit Keukenhof today, 67 and sunny in nearby Leiden.  August was visiting daughter stationed in Alaska, late September was going to be 2 weeks in Poland, Thanksgiving week in Portugal.

 

Alaska may go, as it is domestic.  Poland/September, I'm doubtful.  Portugal/November, hopeful...but the pessimist in me wonders if that won't be when the second wave of infections hit, as happened w/ other pandemics.

 

Stay safe, only thing in our control is to try and 'hunker down in place' best you can.  (to make up for Keukenhof, I bought some small pots of daffodils and tulips, and put in a small planter inside, $8 usd investment.  Lot cheaper than Keukenhof.  😉   Some nice color.  We're up by Canada, so no outside flowers for a bit. 

 

 

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, ural guy said:

Portugal/November, hopeful...but the pessimist in me wonders if that won't be when the second wave of infections hit, as happened w/ other pandemics.

 

I hope you get to go...as we've discussed earlier, it is a great place to visit! One wave will be bad enough. Let's hope there isn't a second!

 

This uncertainty is definitely weighing on us too. Though we both have work to distract us, we love trip planning and we just had to cancel our June trip (China, not happening...) which is a real letdown. We have a November cruise planned and hopefully that will still happen. Maybe by the end of summer we will be able to come up with an alternative itinerary to replace June.

[ural guy]

Thanks JP...'work to distract you'...if I remember correctly, you do some very important work, especially right now.  Try and stay safe, hope you're getting the supplies you need.

 

November:  River cruise or Big boat?

[jpalbny]

Thanks, ural guy. We work at a pretty small hospital and so far we have what we need. Still, pretty scary stuff. The cases I've seen aren't the flu. When this goes bad, it is vicious. I'm not afraid of catching the flu. I don't want any part of this.

 

November is on one of the new Ponant explorers, assuming that all goes according to plan. Singapore to Darwin. 

 

Regarding the original question here - April still looks scary and we will be picking up the pieces well into May. I'm hoping that the pandemic settles down by June and that things get back to some semblance of normal by late summer, or maybe September. I'm not optimistic that it will happen sooner, though it sure would be great.if it did.

[Host Jazzbeau]

51 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

November is on one of the new Ponant explorers, assuming that all goes according to plan. Singapore to Darwin. 

 

I hope that this cruise goes off on schedule and that you have a great time.  [Not only for your sake, but it will mean that my rescheduled Ponant cruise of New Zealand in January should also happen!]  Be sure to check out the 'Blue Eye Lounge' and report back.  [We skipped it in Iceland last year because the seas there didn't offer much to look at/through.]

[NavyCruiser]

July.

Any later than that, the whole world's economy will collapse....

[Ride-The-Waves]

18 minutes ago, NavyCruiser said:

July.

Any later than that, the whole world's economy will collapse....

Yep.  Not just a Great Recession redux, this will be a full-blown Depression.  The business world, to include local businesses like restaurants and hair salons, will look and operate much differently than they did pre-COVID19.

[djh1959]

Well, I am in Australia, but also interested on when flights will return as we have flights booked from Melbourne to Paris, then onto Spain and Portugal on Christmas Day.  No cruise this time, and I must say I don't think I would be comfortable getting on any sort of cruise for the next five years after this!

 

I was hopeful that our trip would go ahead, but now I am seriously starting to doubt it.  Our government are making noises that we might need to be quarantined from the rest of the world for at least 18 months!!  Very depressing news indeed and I sincerely hope that they are wrong.

[CaribbeanIsland]

July.

[AF-1]

I say partial int'l by July, with full service by Oct.  Anything earlier is a win/win

[mskaufman]

We have a July river cruise in France.  I can't imagine that intercontinental travel will be back to normal by then.  Unless the situation changes in a big way I can't see getting on a flight with a couple of hundred strangers and having to queue at immigration and the like.

[NavyCruiser]

5 hours ago, mskaufman said:

We have a July river cruise in France.  I can't imagine that intercontinental travel will be back to normal by then.  Unless the situation changes in a big way I can't see getting on a flight with a couple of hundred strangers and having to queue at immigration and the like.

 

We also have a late July into Aug river cruise, flying Houston to Paris.  It'll be 100 degrees & 100% humidity in Houston then, so hopefully the virus be killed off long before then.  Even if not all flights are restored, maybe the major routes be will going.  Afraid if travel is not allowed by then, most airlines & cruise lines will be bankrupt by then...

[AF-1]

NavyCruiser;  the big three airlines Delta,United,American; have enough money to pay employees' thru Sep 30th.  Anything later than that date; will most likely result in parking or retiring more aircraft. As of now Delta will be retiring all its MD 80 model aircraft;  I think they said they have 73 in the fleet

Edited April 11, 2020 by AF-1

[sharkster77]

We have a land tour in Canada scheduled for mid-September and I have little faith that things will be back to normal by then.

Final payment is due in July---unless TA arranges otherwise, I expect we will pay so that we get the perks of the tour company cancelling, as opposed to what happens if we cancel ourselves.

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, AF-1 said:

NavyCruiser;  the big three airlines Delta,United,American; have enough money to pay employees' thru Sep 30th.  Anything later than that date; will most likely result in parking or retiring more aircraft. As of now Delta will be retiring all its MD 80 model aircraft;  I think they said they have 73 in the fleet

 

Good riddance to them, always one of my least favorite models.  And thankfully Delta never bought any 737 MAX aircraft, so they weren't hurt by that fiasco.  They should come out of this with a nice, modern fleet.

[AF-1]

Jazzbeau;  yes I am so glad Delta is getting rid of those jets.  They were built in the mid 80's and early 90's.  Their cockpit technology is so 20th century.  The new jets they have are so much more fuel efficient and the cockpits have some amazing tech for the pilots.