Aviation bodies
have written to the president of the European Commission saying that Europe needs “to move from crisis management to risk management,
and thus learn to live - and travel - with the virus”. IATA, ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe suggest replacing “the
current patchwork of quarantines with a common EU Testing Protocol for Travel”.
In the letter to Ursula von der
Leyen, the organisations wrote: “The situation has continued to deteriorate for
Europe’s airlines and airports, with an accelerated decline in passenger
traffic. With infections increasing in several European countries and the
epidemiological situation set to remain unstable for months, these national
regimes of travel restrictions and quarantines will further limit the free
movement of people – creating a paralysis of the internal market. This is not
sustainable.”
The proposed
testing regime would see quarantine replaced by pre-departure testing for
passengers travelling across borders from high risk areas in the EU/Schengen
space and from third countries. It would also be based on the risk assessment
criteria and the common colour coding system / mapping of designated areas
already proposed by the European Commission, but which is yet to be endorsed
and fully implemented by EU States.
The three
organisations argued that public opinion research has established that 65 per
cent of travellers surveyed agree that quarantine should not be required for
passengers who test negative for Covid-19.
The publication of the letter followed
the release of a survey by the Air Transport
Action Group that the collapse of air traffic could result in a
52 per cent drop in employment supported by aviation in Europe, equating to
the loss of around 7 million jobs and nearly €450 billion in economic activity.