International air travel between Europe and the United States has resumed, with European carriers announcing their first westward flights a few hours after the first US airlines got back in the air on the same routes.
After almost a day during in which only US carriers were allowed to take off for the United States, the main carriers in Britain, France and Germany announced that they were resuming their services.
In Paris, Air France said that its first flight, carrying 294 passengers bound for Atlanta, took off in early evening. Earlier, an American Airlines plane took off from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, while two Delta Airlines flights also left for Atlanta.
A US Airways flight heading to Chicago was also ready for take-off: "the passengers are on board. The pilots are just waiting for permission to land in the US," said an airport official. Planes are not yet allowed to fly to New York from Paris, the official added.
Two British Airways planes, however, were due to fly out of London for New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, and a third for Philadelphia, during the evening.
The first of two Boeing 747 aircraft left Heathrow airport empty and will bring back passengers who have been stranded in the US. The second aircraft, which will carry some passengers, is also due to leave Heathrow Friday evening, while another so-called "positioning flight" will leave to collect passengers from Philadelphia.
And in Frankfurt, the German carrier Lufthansa said it would be resuming its transatlantic flights early on Saturday.
AFP