THE Carla Benton, a bookmaker in Chicago, was preparing to travel to Europe for Christmas, when the Omicron mutation of coronavirus in late November.
She quickly canceled her plans as travel restrictions and test rules changed constantly, initially choosing to stay on USA and visit her sister in Houston, Texas. He finally decided to cancel all her travel plans and stay at her home in Chicago for the holidays, broadcasts APE BPE, citing a relevant report by Reuters.
“At first I hoped to be able to adapt part of my trip to the circumstances,” Benton told the international news agency. “While I’m fully vaccinated and following the protection measures here in Chicago, I was worried for the possibility of an unexpected positive test and quarantine abroad “.
More generally, airlines have reported an increase in cancellations. However, millions of Americans are expected to travel by road and air to celebrate Christmas with relatives and friends.
Delta Air Lines announced last week that Omicron was slowing down international bookings as many countries imposed new travel restrictions. On the other hand, the CEO of the company Ed Bastian told CNBC that “Omicron is not going to affect our holiday bookings”.
United Airlines, on the other hand, has the busiest flight schedule since the beginning of the pandemic this month, with more than 4,000 flights a day on average during the holidays at the end of the year. The company announced that it had added more than 200 domestic flights to meet the demand for travel during the holiday season. Similarly, Southwest Airlines announced yesterday that the company finds them encouraging trends on demand holidays.
At the same time, however, COVID cases in the US increased by 9% last week. They have also increased by 57% since the beginning of December, according to a Reuters count.
And this increase raises some concerns about the future of travel. Fears about Omicron and new travel restrictions have led to an increase in cancellations in hotel reservations worldwide, according to online accommodation search company Trivago.
In fact, as cases continue to rise, investors yesterday led to a fall in shares of airlines and of travel groups.
United Airlines shares fell 3.3%, while Royal Caribbean Group fell 3.4% after 48 people on Symphony of the Seas cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19.
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