The Scale of the Schengen - US Travel Ban
The US Government suspension of travel from European Union Schengen Agreement countries comes in to force today.
OAG's Becca Rowland looks at the impact.
Image - Kevan James
11% OF US INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS AFFECTED BY SCHENGEN BAN
On Wednesday 11th March the US announced a 30-day ban on travellers arriving from European countries who are signatories to the Schengen Agreement which takes effect today, Friday 13th March.
According to OAG flight schedules, the ban will effect passengers arriving on nearly 7,000 flights over the next 4 weeks. If those flights were cancelled due to lack of demand that would remove close to 2 million seats each way from the market.
Of the Schengen Agreement countries in Europe, Germany, France and the Netherlands will be most affected as they make up 57% of all flights between the Schengen Area and the United States.
The most affected airlines will be Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which, together are scheduled to fly 31% of all flights between the United States and the Schengen Area in this period. Lufthansa is the most affected European airline, flying 13% of flights between the two areas.
Overall, the ban will affect 10.9% of all US international flights that had been scheduled for the next 4 weeks, and 16.9% of capacity (seats). The overall impact for European airlines is somewhat less with these flights making up just 2.4% of the international scheduled flights from Schengen Area countries, and 3.9% of capacity.
Graphics - OAG
© Becca Rowland/OAG
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The US airlines most affected are Delta (pictured above) American and United (below).
British Airways however are not, at least as yet, and the US suspension has not been applied to the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, whose carrier Aer Lingus will also continue its flights. Although Ireland is a member of the EU, the UK no longer is and neither country are members of the Schengen agreement.
The agreement allows unrestricted movements, with no passport or other identity checks between countries that signed it and even though they are not EU members, also affected are Switzerland, Norway and Iceland as they are Schengen Agreement signatories.
Low fare airline Norwegian has announced a substantial cutback in its flights across Europe and to the USA, with staff reductions to match, leading to speculation that its already precarious financial position will be further weakened. The carrier has however stated that its US network from London Gatwick will continue as normal.
Images - Kevan James