American Airlines will cap ticket prices for passengers scrambling to get back from Europe after President Donald Trump’s announcement about travel restrictions, the company said Thursday.
American will set the maximum price of 799 euros or British pounds (about $885 USD) for main cabin, one-way tickets from Europe to the United States and $1,000 for trips to Europe from the United States.
“These fares include taxes and fees that are typically around $250 to $300 on transatlantic routes,” American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Koos said in a statement. "We are also offering reasonably priced fares for our premium cabins on our trans-Atlantic routes.”
After American announced that it was putting a limit on U.S.-Europe ticket prices, Chicago-based United announced that it was implementing a similar policy.
At American, the cap on one-way fares is good through March 24 as passengers prepare for a new set of travel restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Fort Worth-based American is offering the airfare caps on trips out of London’s Heathrow Airport, too, even though the United Kingdom is not included in the travel restrictions. However, American funnels much of its European business through London in partnership with other airlines such as British Airways.
American is not planning to add any flights to deal with the heightened demand because crew rest requirements make sudden shifts difficult.
Travelers all over the globe are getting ready for a new set of restrictions that start at midnight Friday that will limit entrance to the United States from most of Europe for foreign national passengers.
U.S. citizens will still have to be funneled through one of 11 airports, including DFW International, if they have traveled to the affected regions of Europe, Iran or mainland China, according to American Airlines.
American has already suspended change fees for passengers, cut back on its international summer flight schedules and trimmed its domestic schedules in April.
But the COVID-19 situation seemingly became more serious Wednesday, as the NCAA announced that it would hold its men’s and women’s basketball tournament games without fans, states began restricting large gatherings and more businesses canceled travel.
Wednesday night, the NBA said it would suspend its season after a player preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. The NHL and Major League Baseball also suspended play Thursday.
