The International Air Transport Association (Iata) and Airports Council International (ACI) Europe have jointly issued a call to the governments of European Union (EU) States to follow the new EU travel regime, which came into effect on Tuesday. The new EU regime advises the abolition of all travel restrictions on fully vaccinated or fully recovered passengers in possession of valid Covid-19 certificates. (Iata is the representative body of the global airline industry, while ACI is the sole global industry association for airport operators, with ACI Europe being its regional branch covering that continent.)

Technically, the new regime covers travel within the EU and between the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA – this links the EU with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). But Iata and ACI Europe point out that there are “no compelling reasons” for the EU to have different travel requirement regimes for people travelling within the EU and EEA and people travelling between these regions and the rest of the world. Consequently, the two associations also called on the EU Council to urgently bring its recommendations regarding travellers entering the EU/EEA from elsewhere into line with its new recommendations covering travel within the EU/EEA.

Iata and ACI Europe cited independent research to support their case. Conducted jointly by research and analysis companies Oxera and Edge Health, the study examined the effectiveness of travel restrictions imposed by Finland and Italy (on December 28 and December 16 respectively), in attempts to constrain the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The results showed that requiring pre-departure Covid-19 tests made no discernible difference to the numbers of Omicron cases in the two countries. Further, had no travel restrictions at all been imposed, the peak point for Omicron cases (in both countries) would have occurred only three days earlier than it actually did (assuming that the restrictions had been imposed when the World Health Organisation had announced the discovery of Omicron, which had been on November 24). Given that travel restrictions were imposed, had they been lifted on January 1, the result would have been, at the worst, an increase in Omicron cases of 0.23% in Italy and 0.07% in Finland. But the restrictions did, the two associations pointed out, inflict real and unnecessary economic hardship on the peoples of the two countries, and not only on those in the travel and tourism sectors.

“The research is clear that the inevitable delay in identifying new variants means that transmission already occurs by the time travel restrictions are imposed. It’s a classic case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted,” highlighted Iata deputy director-general Conrad Clifford. “Keeping testing in place for vaccinated passengers therefore seems completely ineffective from the health point of view, but damages passenger confidence and national economies. This latest research should give governments confidence to implement the EU recommendation in full, enabling Europe to get moving again.”

“The new regime for intra-EU/EEA travel is right to focus on a ‘person-based approach’ and to recognise that both vaccinated and recovered travellers should not be subjected to any restriction,” affirmed ACI Europe director-general Olivier Jankovec. “But having common EU regimes has so far not prevented States from going their own way. This must stop. [ACI Europe and Iata explicitly identified Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Malta and called on them to come into line with the new EU travel regime.] We now have further proof – travel restrictions do have a significant effect – but it’s not on public health, it’s on economic stability and livelihoods. In short: they are causing more harm than good.”