The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
Daily US air travellers exceeded 2 million for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, reaching almost three-quarters of the volume recorded on the same day in 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The total is part of a trend towards improving numbers since February, when vaccinations against the virus began to have an appreciable effect and cases started plummeting. The pent-up demand has pushed up airfares for the peak summer travel season as flight schedules have yet to be adjusted for Americans’ return to the skies.
TSA officials screened 2,028,961 people at airport security checkpoints on June 11, 1.5 million more than on the same day a year ago and 74% of the number from 2019, two years ago, the agency said in a statement.
A mask mandate remains in effect for airline travel through September 13.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, though, that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear a mask in outdoor settings at airports and other transportation settings like the top deck of a ferry.
The seven-day average of people flying on US airlines was 1.82 million — also a post-pandemic high — and is nearly three times what it was early in the year, according to TSA data.