Following Spain’s announcement to reopen the country to vaccinated travellers, the airline has added and increased services to the region
United Airlines has expanded its summer schedule by adding flights to both Spain and Italy, alongside other EU destinations following the Spanish government’s decision to reopen travel to vaccinated visitors, beginning June 7.
The announcement was made shortly after the release of the European Union Council’s recommendation, advising member states to open up borders to those with the jab.
United will offer 30 daily flights to 16 destinations in Europe this summer, as well as a service between New York/Newark, Barcelona and Madrid which is set to begin in July, five times a week.
Daily services from the US hub to Rome and Milan are also scheduled for the same month.
New routes to Dubrovnik, Croatia, Reykjavik, Iceland and Athens have also been added to the summer schedule. Flights to Frankfurt, Munich and Brussels have increased, providing connectivity to the region.
With the carrier’s ‘Travel-Ready Centre’, customers are able to follow the latest Covid-19 travel requirements, upload test results and store any health or vaccination records. According to the airline, it is the first in the US to integrate all these features into one platform.
Patrick Quayle, vice president of international network and alliances at United, said: “The EU Council's recommendation represents the turning of the page in the pandemic for our customers, employees and residents of the EU, and brings us all closer to reuniting the world. In addition to offering service to more destinations in Europe than any other US carrier, only United allows customers to easily upload vaccine records and testing results to our app making international travel much easier."
Medical healthcare firm, Abbott has collaborated with United to offer international travellers with carry-on tests which can be administered on board the plane. Results from the BinaxNOW kit are then uploaded to the digital health platform app, eliminating the need to find a testing facility abroad.
