Europeans are flying again, just as Americans pull back

Europeans are resuming air travel, due in part to cheap tickets from discount carriers and a smooth rollout of a continentwide vaccination certification system.

This follows a similar domestic market air-travel market boom in the U.S. and China, as passengers in both countries saw a fall in COVID-19 cases and the U.S. experienced a robust vaccination drive.

In Europe, government restrictions like quarantine requirements, testing and vaccinations, meant to contain the virus, have kept intra-continental travel far below pre-2019 levels in a market that is heavily dependent upon cross-border flights.

In the U.S., the fast-spreading delta variant of the virus has put a damper on travel.

Last week, intra-European flights were down 27% compared to the same week in 2019, but this is the smallest gap recorded since March 2020, when airlines started limiting services in the first waves of COVID-19.

Read more from The Wall Street Journal.