(Bloomberg) — British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. and TUI AG reported surging interest in long-haul travel after Britain last week scaled back coronavirus testing requirements that had acted as a barrier to sales.
Package-holiday giant TUI said bookings surged almost immediately on the policy change. British Airways Holidays, meanwhile, saw searches jump nearly 40% compared with the final week of 2021, with New York, Dubai and Barbados the most sought-out locations and beach resorts generally leading the way.
At Virgin Atlantic, searches increased 150% Thursday, the day after the U.K. announcement, from a week earlier, with New York and Barbados again among leading destinations, alongside Orlando, Florida. Topping the list was London Heathrow, suggesting pent-up demand for inbound visitors — some of them likely to be traveling on business.
The pickup in activity marks a positive sign for sales in the coming months, and gives a much needed boost to airlines focused on the long-distance journeys hardest hit by the travel downturn caused by Covid-19.
The requirement for vaccinated arrivals to take a coronavirus test before boarding a flight into England was dropped effective Friday. A lateral-flow test must still be taken within two days of entering the country, but the requirement for a more-costly PCR assessment has also been eliminated.
TUI’s British arm has seen “an immediate and strong uptick in bookings,” it said, led by a near-tripling of winter-break sales. Mexico and the Dominican Republic are leading the way, followed by the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and Egypt.
“There’s no doubt the positive travel changes have given Brits the reassurance that travel will once again be easier and more affordable,” TUI said in a statement to Bloomberg, adding that though demand has yet to reach pre-Covid levels, it expects bookings for the coming summer to be “normalized.”
Package holidays are proving most popular in what is traditionally the busiest month for leisure bookings in the U.K., since they have additional consumer protection compared with flight-only reservations, a spokeswoman said. The Canaries and Mexico are seeing the biggest spikes for summer, TUI said.
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