Before the summer vacation, the airlines are increasing their flight offers again.
In view of the high demand for the route to Mallorca, Lufthansa is pulling its largest aircraft out of the hangar.
Berlin - In the coming months, contrails from vacation flyers should again be seen more frequently in the blue summer sky: The second Corona summer promises significantly more travel opportunities within Europe.
As of July, 217 locations in 38 countries are to be served from Germany again, as announced by the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL).
That is almost as many destinations as before the pandemic in 2019. At that time, there were 226 destinations on the flight plan from Germany.
"The world is clearly more accessible again than in the last 15 months," said BDL General Manager Matthias von Randow in Berlin.
For some countries, the supply even exceeds the level of 2019, for example for Greece and Turkey.
Summer vacation: Airlines are significantly expanding their range
Air traffic is also expanding again outside of Europe.
From July, 48 non-European countries will be served again, including the USA with 25 destinations.
Tourist trips there are not yet possible.
The general manager of the German Travel Association (DRV), Dirk Inger, said that the citizens' desire to travel is returning, which can also be seen in the bookings. Package tours to the Mediterranean, for example to Spain or Portugal, are particularly in demand. There is also great demand for Greece. “The Greeks said very early on when they would open again and they issued very clear rules,” said Inger. People would still book at relatively short notice.
"Long-distance travel has not yet played a role," he added.
Many non-European countries could not yet be visited.
In the USA, for example, entry restrictions for foreign visitors still apply.
Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer spoke out in favor of uniform EU travel agreements with such countries.
"There can be no isolated solutions," he said on Friday.
But regulations change quickly.
"If we look at the same card again on Sunday, a lot will have changed," said Inger.
Summer vacation: Lufthansa takes out the big device in Munich and Frankfurt
In view of the steep rise in bookings, Lufthansa also wants to expand its range significantly. At the start of the summer holidays in Bavaria and Hesse, the airline wants to significantly increase its number of seats, especially to Mallorca. On the first four Saturdays of the summer vacation in Hesse, the company plans to fly to the Balearic Island with a Boeing 747-8. The first jumbo is scheduled to take off on July 17th at 10:20 am in Frankfurt for Palma.
At the beginning of the summer vacation in Bavaria on July 31, the group plans to add the A350 on the route from Munich to the Balearic Island.
The latest Airbus model is similar to the Jumbo. The company also wants to significantly expand its range from Munich *.
Just a few days ago, at the request of
Merkur.de,
Munich Airport
reported plans to restart Terminal 1, which had largely been shut down due to corona, from June 23rd.
Summer vacation: under the sign of the pandemic
But despite easing and more flights abroad, this year's summer travel is also dominated by the pandemic.
Even if the number of bookings rose significantly again, they remained far below the level of previous years, emphasized Inger.
They would only be around a third of the pre-crisis level.
He estimates that the level will level off at around 40 percent over the summer.
The crisis can also be seen in the offer: many destinations are being offered again, but at a much lower frequency than usual.
According to data from the BDL, the number of scheduled departures to European countries this summer will be 34 percent below that of 2019.
Summer vacations: vacations need to be better prepared
With the offer, the effort that consumers have to put into their travel preparations also increases. "Before starting the journey, the traveler should check exactly what has changed in the destination country," said Inger. “If possible, he should have all the necessary documents, i.e. test certificates and vaccination certificates, to hand. He should also have a little more time for the processes at the airport. ”A lack of a test could well lead to people not being allowed into the plane.
Meanwhile, the domestic hospitality industry is also preparing to do better again this summer. In Berlin, for example, hotels and guesthouses will open again to visitors this Friday. "So I think that we will see a lot of guests in the city from July / August," said the head of the tourism company "Visitberlin" on the RBB Inforadio. “It is difficult to predict whether this will immediately reach the level of 2019. Let's start modestly. I think if we end up with 70, 80 percent of the numbers at that time, it's
pretty
good. ”
(Dpa / utz) * Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.DIGITAL.