Airlines and airports across Europe, including Air Malta and the Malta International Airport, are calling for all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions in the EU and Schengen area to be dropped.

This will include removing mandatory mask-wearing, all testing requirements, the need to present proof of vaccination or complete a Passenger Locator Form (PLF).

“COVID-19, and specifically the Omicron variant, is now pervasive throughout all of Europe, and population immunity is at such levels that the risk of hospitalisation or death has dramatically reduced, especially for vaccinated people. States are adopting surveillance strategies to ensure public health, in the same way as they do for other coronaviruses and infectious diseases,” ACI EUROPE (Airports Council International) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement.

“Many European states have lifted domestic COVID restrictions, such as the need to provide health credentials to enter social events, or the requirement to wear masks in public spaces. Contact tracing efforts are also being stood down, rendering PLFs for international travel redundant. As European countries open up and remove restrictions, it is only logical to remove similar restrictions from air transport.”

Both MIA and Air Malta form part of the respective bodies. Malta currently has some of the strictest travel restrictions in Europe and demands that anyone entering the country must have taken a booster dose or face quarantine.

The organisations said that travel restrictions only delay peak infections by a maximum of four days – insisting that by the time they are put in place the variant is already circulating in communities around the world.

“These negligible health benefits are therefore outweighed by the significant social and economic damage caused by the negative impact on air travel,” they said.

ACI EUROPE and IATA wrote jointly to Ministers of Transport and Health throughout EU member states, requesting to:

• Remove all health-related travel and border restrictions ahead of the summer season, at least on intra- EEA flights, specifically testing, contact tracing, and vaccine certificates
• Align the health restrictions applicable to aviation to those applied nationally, particularly with reference to mask mandates
• Allow those vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine to travel into the EEA from third countries with the same conditions as those passengers vaccinated with an EMA-approved vaccine.

“We would like to use this opportunity to applaud the EU and Member States for the EU DCC development and implementation. We strongly support the value of the EU DCC which will remain crucial, especially for European citizens travelling abroad as well as for third countries. Likewise, the EU DCC will be useful for the containment of eventual variants of concern and enhance industry resilience against future health outbreaks,” the letter said.

What do you think of the decision?