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Airports, airlines call for halt to Omicron travel curbs
The aviation industry urged governments across Europe to follow the most recent guidance from the ECDC, and take action to withdraw recently imposed Omicron-related travel restrictions.
ACI EUROPE and A4E cited France, Greece, Italy and the UK re-introducing travel restrictions for vaccinated travellers in response to increased public health risks relating to the Omicron variant.
However, with the Omicron variant now present across Europe and infections predominantly driven by community transmissions rather than travel-related cases, the ECDC acknowledges that such action no longer needs to involve travel restrictions, they say.
Instead, they say governments should now focus on beefing up a range of measures aimed at directly limiting local transmissions – including avoiding large public or private gatherings, using face masks, and reducing social contacts.
ACI EUROPE and A4E also warned that the recent proliferation of travel restrictions puts the EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC) at risk.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE and Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director of Airlines for Europe (A4E) jointly said: "The ECDC has always been clear that travel restrictions can only delay the introduction of new variants and that once a new variant is present across Europe and in community transmission, they no longer serve any purpose."
"This is exactly the point we are reaching with Omicron. Maintaining testing and quarantine requirements for vaccinated travellers will only bring hardship to the livelihoods and economies of those affected by and reliant upon the travel industry."
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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