Airports Council International (ACI), together with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), have called on the governments across European Union and Schengen Zone countries to lift all the remaining restrictions imposed due to the Coronavirus and its new strains.
ACI and IATA have urged the governments to abolish the testing requirements, the obligation to present proof of vaccination against the virus, or complete the Passenger Locator Form (PLF), SchengenVisaInfo reports.
In addition, authorities in EU and Schengen Zone territories have also been urged to lift the mask-wearing for travel within or between States.
According to the figures provided by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the epidemiological situation in several European Union countries has started to ameliorate.
ECDC’s map showed that particularly five European countries; Spain, Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Malta had recorded fewer COVID-19 infection cases in the past two weeks.
Up to this point, many European countries have started to change their approach to the virus, considering it more like an endemic disease, thus easing its entry rules and restrictions imposed due to the Coronavirus, especially the Omicron variant.
Many European countries have abolished their domestic COVID-19 restrictions, including the requirement to wear face masks in public spaces or the need to provide health credentials in order to enter social events.
“March 11 marks exactly two years since the WHO announced COVID-19 was a global pandemic. In that time, we have seen increasing evidence that border restrictions are ineffective. The latest research from OXERA and Edge Health confirms that by the time a variant of concern is identified and restrictions are implemented, the cross-border transmission will already have happened,” IATA’s Regional Vice President for Europe, Rafael Schvartzman, pointed out in this regard.
Schvartzman said the immunity of the population in Europe is strong, and Coronavirus is basically an endemic disease
He stressed that now it is time to focus more on removing remaining intra-EU restrictions.
Europe’s travel and tourism sector has also been highly affected by the Coronavirus situation, which led authorities to tighten their entry rules and impose bans and other restrictions in order to prevent a surge in the number of infections.
About $ 9.2 trillion were generated for the global economy from the Travel and tourism sector.
However, the President and CEO of the Travel and Tourism Council, Julia Simpson, stressed that the global Travel & Tourism sector had suffered tremendous losses in the past two years.
Therefore, ACI and IATA recommendations would further help the travel and tourism sector recover from the damages caused by the virus.
“This will free people to travel and support jobs returning to the European air transport and travel sectors,” Schvartzman pointed out in this regard.
Authorities in European countries are continuously attempting to help the travel and tourism sector from the damages caused by the pandemic.