LONDON, May 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) – “There are a few American television shows which make Paris look extremely attractive,” remarked Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), opens new tab CEO Ben Smith last year, presumably referring to “Emily in Paris”, the hit Netflix series. The show, which debuted ​in late 2020, speaks to the seemingly insatiable post-pandemic appetite of wealthy Americans for fancy transatlantic sojourns – even if Europeans aren’t quite ‌as enthusiastic about going the other way. Airlines that fly U.S. travellers across the pond – like Air France-KLM, British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L), opens new tab and Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), opens new tab – will be hoping the trend continues, given a dicier outlook at home.

Affluent Americans have done unusually well in recent years. Despite a few wobbles, the dollar is still 10% stronger against a basket of other major ​currencies compared with five years ago. U.S. stock markets have been on a tear, helped of late by AI fervour. The S&P 500 ​Index is up almost 80% over the past half-decade, whereas a global MSCI benchmark of non-U.S. stocks (.dMIWU00000PUS), opens new tab has risen just ⁠over 30%. More than a third of U.S. net personal wealth is held in securities and other financial instruments, according, opens new tab to UBS, much higher than in ​other developed countries.

That adds up to lots of money to splash out on vacations to Paris, Madrid and Lake Como. International trips by U.S. citizens grew ​around 10% between 2019 and 2025, according to data from the International Trade Administration, but travel to Europe was up over 20%. Airlines have noticed. Carriers on both sides of the Atlantic are ramping up their premium offerings. Upmarket demand proved resilient after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “Liberation Day” 2025 tariff announcement.

With intra-Europe flying facing a tough summer – given the backdrop ​of higher fuel costs, nervous consumers and an increase in seats on offer – airlines will hope U.S. high rollers can step up again. Tight supply in ​transatlantic flying gives carriers pricing power. Though flights to certain countries like Italy and Ireland are growing faster, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows a slight year-on-year ‌decline in ⁠seats available between the U.S. and Europe this summer. The chief commercial officer of Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab said last month that the transatlantic market was looking “very good”, while Lufthansa called out strong sales in the U.S. while announcing first-quarter results.

There may be headwinds. The European Travel Commission said, opens new tab in February that 34% of U.S. survey respondents were intending to travel to the region in 2026 – down year-on-year. Another survey from UBS, conducted in March and April, showed a small dip ​in American interest in long-haul leisure travel, ​with respondents expecting to take ⁠an average of 1.3 flights over the next 12 months, versus 1.4 in last year’s survey. Worries about rising fuel prices, thanks to the Iran war, may encourage some Americans to plan their summer vacations closer to home.

Still, similar fears ​have proved wrong before. The S&P 500 is up 9% since the day before the Gulf conflict began, ​meaning rich Americans’ animal ⁠spirits may be high. That’s a tailwind for European airlines.

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