Aviation – Frankfurt am Main – Vaccinated foreigners are allowed to enter the USA again – Economy
Washington / Frankfurt (dpa) – From today (November 8), foreigners are allowed to re-enter the USA after a full vaccination against the coronavirus with internationally recognized preparations. This means that even fully vaccinated foreign travelers from Germany and other Schengen countries can return directly to the country. Until now, this required a special permit from the US government. In March 2020, at the beginning of the corona pandemic, then US President Donald Trump ordered an entry ban for foreigners from large parts of Europe.
In the morning, a whole fleet of passenger aircraft will take off across the Atlantic from Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt. According to the flight schedule, 19 direct flights will be offered in the USA by noon, of which Lufthansa alone will operate twelve. Singapore Airlines kicks off at 8:20 a.m. with a very well booked Boeing 777 with a noisy company, which has 264 seats in four classes. Other providers are the US companies United, American and Delta as well as the German vacation airline Condor.
Despite the entry ban imposed in March 2020, groups of people such as US citizens, diplomats and people from various non-EU countries have recently been allowed to fly. US citizens have been allowed to enter the EU again since June. The airlines hope that the additional market opening for EU citizens will result in strong sales growth. Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr explained that there was a lot of catching up to do with private travelers as well as business people. As a result, the crane group starts with 200 flights a week to 17 different US destinations.
The restart is also a challenge for the airport. The head of the operator Fraport, Stefan Schulte, had already prepared the passengers for slower processes last week because there is a shortage of staff for aircraft handling. The corona measures mean additional effort.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211107-99-904295 / 2