With the first restriction-free summer on the table, US travelers are eagerly looking forward to a spot of European travel this summer. Destinations such as Paris, Rome, and London are seeing far more tickets booked for summer travel from the USA, with some, including Amsterdam, reaching double the number.

Simple Flying caught up with Steve Solomon, Chief Commercial Officer of ARC, to see what’s hot and what’s not in the world of air travel. ARC, the Airlines Reporting Corporation, provides settlement and reconciliation of US agency ticketing, giving ARC a unique insight into where people are booking to fly, and when.

For spring break, which has just passed, domestic travel was a top choice for US flyers. Steve ran down the top five destinations for spring break 2023, noting that,

“Domestic demand has grown year over year. Nine of the top 10 destinations booked in March and April are domestic. We're seeing Los Angeles up 16% year over year, Orlando up 4%, Las Vegas up 3%, Chicago surprisingly up 27%, and Phoenix up 9%. Those are the top five, but all are up year over year, which is really exciting.”

Aircraft Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Photo: Chicago O'Hare Airport

Spring break tends to favor domestic travel or, at best, near international destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean. But for summer 2023, it seems American travelers are keen to look a little bit further away.

Europe is hot for summer 2023

For travelers from the USA, this is the first summer since the pandemic outbreak that they’ve been able to visit Europe without any restrictions, either coming or going. As such, bookings are up significantly for summer travel across the pond this year. Steve commented,

“As we look ahead to the summer, that's where we're starting to see a lot of pent-up demand and excitement for international travel. Where we're seeing really, really strong demand is for Europe, from the US. At this point last year, there were still some restrictions in place; now that the restrictions are lifted, we've seen the demand rush back.”

According to ARC’s data, the top 10 destinations in Europe for US travelers this summer (for travel between Memorial Day and Labor Day) are:

  • Rome, Italy - up 82% year on year
  • London, UK - up 63% year on year
  • Paris, France - up 66% year on year
  • Athens, Greece - up 52% year on year
  • Barcelona, Spain - up 86% year on year
  • Istanbul, Turkey - up 183% year on year
  • Dublin, Ireland - up 10% year on year
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands - up 130% year on year
  • Madrid, Spain - up 70% year on year
  • Keflavik, Iceland - up 74% year on year
TC-LGC Turkish Airlines Airbus A350-941 (3)
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

While traveler preference clearly defines the destination, some are being helped by the huge amount of capacity in the network. Take Istanbul, for example, up 183% since last year; Turkish Airlines has a record number of flights to the New York area this year, with five flights daily between IST and JFK or Newark.

Amsterdam has a new entrant for the summer too. While Delta, KLM, and United will continue their transatlantic services, they will be joined by JetBlue for the first time, as the airline finally secured its slots at the airport. Paris, too, is seeing some JetBlue love, as well as the other newcomer, Norse Atlantic.

JetBlue Airbus A321LR
Photo: JetBlue

Passport problems

For passengers flying for the first time, or perhaps who haven’t flown for a while, getting a passport in the States is becoming something of a trial. Estimates on the number of American citizens with passports fluctuate between 37% and 42%. With many people planning international travel this summer, weekly applications for passports are up 30 - 40% compared to the previous year. Steve noted the problem, commenting,

“Our Secretary of State said there's unprecedented demand for passports, and they're estimating a three to four month lead time to get passports renewed. So hopefully, anyone who has a passport that's either expiring or going to expire soon already has that process started for their summer travel.”

Passenger Holding A Passport
Photo: Iam_Anuphone/Shutterstock
Photo: Iam_Anuphone/Shutterstock

The US Department of State is organizing a series of ‘passport fairs’ across the USA to help travelers and their families apply for their passports. While this doesn’t speed up the processing time for the application, it can ensure everything is correct at the point of submission, thereby avoiding rejected applications.

Regardless of whether the passport is applied for at a fair or independently, the processing time published on Travel.State.Gov is listed as 10 - 13 weeks for a routine passport, and 7-9 weeks for an expedited application (costing an additional $60).

You can watch the interview with Steve Solomon in the video below. Don’t forget to tune in next week when we’ll be talking to the ‘father of the A220,’ Airbus SVP Rob Dewar.

Are you booked to fly to Europe this summer? Let us know in the comments where you're going!