Demand for Lufthansa flights to U.S. soars

Demand for transatlantic flights has jumped in recent days.

The United States announced plans last week to reopen to fully vaccinated travellers from countries including most of Europe.

And German airline Lufthansa is one to reap the rewards.

On some days last week, its bookings for transatlantic flights were up threefold from the week before.

The airline, which received a 10.5 billion dollar government bailout during the global health crisis, announced the surge in bookings in a statement on Tuesday (September 28).

In November the U.S. will reopen to air travellers from 33 countries.

Including people from China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated.

For the large traditional European players, such as British Airways-owner IAG, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM , the decision represents a chance to recover.

The hiatus in transatlantic routes has battered profits for many.

Lufthansa said bookings for December flights to the U.S reached pre-crisis levels last week.

Both leisure and business travellers snapped up tickets for flights from Zurich and Frankfurt to New York and to Miami

Lufthansa said it was launching additional flights to the States to meet the jump in demand.