Pandemic passport
Austin airport takes off with first international flights since COVID-19 shutdown
Just ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, local travelers gained a little bit of freedom. On July 1, two airlines resumed international routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport — the first out-of-the-country trips since the coronavirus pandemic grounded international service from Austin.
Aeromexico has restarted three-day-a-week service between Austin and Mexico City, and Sun Country has restarted two-day-a-week service between Austin and Cancun. The Mexico City route operates Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, while the Cancun route operates Thursdays and Sundays.
According to Bryce Dubee, a spokesman for ABIA, all of the other international routes at the airport are still temporarily suspended. For the time being, that means no nonstop flights from Austin to Amsterdam, Cabo San Lucas, Frankfurt, London, Paris, or Toronto. KLM’s service between Austin and Amsterdam actually never got off the ground, as the airline postponed the route’s scheduled launch in May.
“In terms of what we’re hearing from airlines regarding other international routes, obviously industrywide they’re experiencing a significant drop in passenger demand as well, and are making decisions to consolidate or change service accordingly,” Dubee tells CultureMap.
A ban on nonessential travel between the U.S. and Mexico and between the U.S. and Canada remains in place until the end of July. Meanwhile, U.S. travelers are currently prohibited from entering any of the 27 European Union countries. U.S. travelers to England must quarantine for 14 days after arrival.
