Travelers take to skies as vaccinations rise, Europe reopens
NEW YORK - More than a year after travel restrictions went into effect, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration is reporting a surge in the number of people passing through airport checkpoints. The TSA has screened more than 24 million travelers so far in May, compared to 3 million during the same time in 2020.
And international travel will soon be expanding. The European Union announced plans to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated Americans, according to Christian Wigand, a spokesperson for the European Commission.
"The council will now recommend that member states ease some of the current restrictions, in particular for those vaccinated with an EU-authorized vaccine," Wigand said. "This will help progressively resume international inbound travel where it's possible to do so safely, while at the same time ensuring quick action to counter the spread of new virus variants."
Vaccinated Americans can now travel to parts of Europe — what to know and how to pay for it
That means some of Europe's top destinations — such as France, Germany, Greece, and Italy — could open to American tourists as soon as June, experts said. But you'll have to prove that you're fully vaccinated.
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EU ambassadors agree on relaxed COVID-19 travel measures for fully vaccinated visitors
Nearly half of American residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than 37% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Some U.S. airlines are preparing to offer more travel options. JetBlue intends to resume flights from New York City to London in August, the airline said. And Southwest reported that it is seeing more passengers aboard its planes. The airline predicted that it will be back to about 85% capacity sometime in June.
With Fox News.