New Airline Data Shows Declining Summer Travel Between Europe and US

Image: Passenger airplane landing on a runway. (Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/aapsky)
Image: Passenger airplane landing on a runway. (Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/aapsky)
Lacey Pfalz
by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:30 AM ET, Thu February 5, 2026

Advance airline bookings data for this summer are showing a decline in transatlantic travel between the United States and Europe, signaling a concerning trend ahead of major events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and America250. 

According to airline analytics company Cirium, bookings from Europe to the U.S. this summer have fallen 14.22 percent from the summer of 2025. Advanced airline bookings from the U.S. to Europe have also declined 7.27 percent. 

The data shows a concerning downward trend: travel from Amsterdam to the U.S. has declined 23 percent; Frankfurt, 36 percent; Barcelona, 21 percent. Other cities showing declines in travel to the U.S. include Athens, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Madrid, Munich and Milan. 

The only place where it increased? London Heathrow, and only by one percent. 

Heading from the U.S. to Europe, the decreases are lower, but still striking: booking from the U.S. to Frankfurt are down 29 percent; from Athens, Dublin and Munich, 13 percent. Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, London and Madrid are all seeing some decreases, too. 

The only city that’s gotten more advanced bookings? Barcelona, by 5 percent. 

The data was compiled by comparing travel booked between October 7, 2025 and January 31, 2026 for July 2026 with the same dates a year prior. The data comes from Online Travel Agencies and the Global Distribution System that airlines and travel advisors use; however, it doesn’t provide booking data from the airlines themselves. 

"Accordingly, this data is purely directional—an indicator—rather than hard booking data," Cirium explained.

It seems the year-long trend in declining travel to the United States may continue despite the bump in travel for the World Cup in June, when most of the matches will be held. 


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Lacey Pfalz

Lacey Pfalz

Senior Editor, News & Features

Lacey Pfalz is Associate Editor at TravelPulse. She's a passionate advocate of responsible travel and believes the best travel experiences happen outside of a planned itinerary. Lacey currently lives in rural Wisconsin. She can be reached at [email protected].

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