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Regardless of how you feel about Donald Trump, he’s certainly making an impression in other countries. From fears about CBP or ICE taking you away, to anger about threats to annex Canada as the 51st state, to concerns about how his fans will treat visitors, to the general sense of hostility and instability emanating from the U.S. as a whole, a lot of people are rethinking their trips to the United States this year. Or even for the next four years (I’ve friends in Amsterdam who visit the U.S. at least once every year or two… they’ve already said they’re not coming back until after 2028).

A $12.5 Billion Blow to the U.S. Economy

Obviously, this will be a major blow to the U.S. travel market. World Travel & Tourism Council says that the U.S. economy is set to lose $12.5 billion (roughly 7%) in international travel spend this year, and it’s all because so many international travelers simply aren’t coming.

Meanwhile, here it is, only 4 months into this administration, and airlines apparently see the writing on the wall. If Europeans aren’t flying to the U.S., they’re certainly not going to keep flying their planes here, or at least not nearly as much. And as of this writing, there are at least a dozen European airlines that have cut or reduced their flights to the U.S.:

Air France

Cancelled flights to Seattle, reduced flights to Washington D.C., citing “weaker demand”. Relocating flights to North Africa.

Austrian Airlines

Suspended Vienna-Los Angeles route due to “insufficient demand”. Focus shifted to Central Asia and Tel Aviv.

British Airways

Cancelled flights to Las Vegas, reduced flights to Orlando and Philadelphia, citing “weak leisure bookings” and rising demand for Mediterranean and Gulf. “Customers prefer destinations that provide a smoother travel experience,” said a UK-based travel agent.

Finnair

Suspended Helsinki-Dallas route, cut Miami route, citing “U.S. demand is underperforming”. They’re restructuring their long-haul flights.

Iberia

New route to Dallas paused, flights to Chicago reduced, due to “low demand”. Iberia says it gets a better yield in Latin America and Europe.

ITA Airways

Rome-San Francisco route decreased in frequency, citing “shifting demand” to the Middle East and North Africa.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Reduced frequencies of flights to San Francisco and Boston due to “falling U.S. interest.” They have stronger performance flying to Asia and Europe.

LEVEL (IAG)

Barcelona-Boston route has been cancelled, due to “market not meeting profitability targets.”

Lufthansa

Reduced frequencies of flights to Chicago, Miami and New York/JFK, citing “soft U.S. demand”. They’re shifting their focus to Japan, India and Europe.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)

Oslo-Newark and Copenhagen-Los Angeles routes have been cancelled due to “decline in U.S. interest.”

Swiss International Air Lines

Zurich-San Francisco route has been suspended for the summer, due to “weak forward bookings.” They claim to also have stronger intra-European demand.

TAP Air Portugal

Reduced frequencies of the Lisbon-Chicago route. The aircraft is being relocated to Brazil and West Africa.

And more

• Aer Lingus has removed its Las Vegas-Dublin route.
• American Airlines has cut its anticipated Miami-Paris Charles de Gaulle route (this cut is actually because of delays in its Boeing 787 delivery. But a cut is still a cut – it’s another route that isn’t available).
• Lufthansa cut its Frankfurt-Minneapolis route and gave it to Discover Airlines in early May. However instead of flying the route year-round, it will now become seasonal.
• Norse Airlines has removed its Miami-Oslo and Miami-Berlin flights due to a lack of passengers. It also plans to cut its Gatwick-Miami route later this year.
• United Airlines dropped its Newark-Tenerife service because flights were only 2/3 full.
• According to Newsweek, “Bosses at Delta, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa all noted that trans-Atlantic flights, which make up a significant chunk of their revenue, had become less popular in the first quarter of the Trump administration.”

Changing routes

As you can see from above, multiple airlines are reducing flights to the U.S., if not pulling out entirely, and are starting routes to other destinations that their customers have a greater interest in visiting. Canada. Mexico. Europe. Africa. The Caribbean.

Anywhere but the U.S. of A., apparently.

And let’s face it…if the planes from Europe aren’t coming here, that means significantly less flights going to Europe, as well.

Better start on those Plan Bs and Plan Cs, if you find your flight to Europe has gone “poof.”

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