425 airlines and airports represented by the A4E (Airlines for Europe), IATA (International Air Transport Association), and ACI EUROPE (Airports Council International), have issued an official statement labelling the decision of the EU to impose Covid-19 restrictions on travellers from China, as a “knee-jerk reaction”.
The EU issued a recommendation to all Member States on Wednesday (January 4th), advising them to impose requirements that all passengers from China must have a Coronavirus test within 48 hours of arrival in their territory, and wear masks during flights and in airports, due to the increase in the number of Covid cases in the Asian country.
This increase has occurred after it opened its borders to visitors on December 7th, after they had been almost completely sealed for three years.
In the statement, which was issued on Thursday, the airlines and airports have criticized the EU’s recommendation, saying that it conflicts with an assessment conducted by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), published on January 3rd, which had concluded that the increase of Coronavirus cases in China would not impact the epidemiological situation in the European continent.
“This is because the COVID-19 variants circulating in China are already present in the EU/EEA, as well as the higher immunity acquired by the population of the EU. As such, systematically testing incoming travellers from China cannot be considered a scientifically-driven and risk-based measure,” the statement reads.
Despite their disagreement with the recommendation, A4E, IATA, and ACI Europe advise the Member States to implement the recommended measures in a fully uniform manner in compliance with the EU Aviation Health Safety Protocol.
The same have also strongly supported a different recommended approach from the EU Commission, according to which the Member States should test wastewater from airports and aircraft arriving from China instead of human testing, to assess the variants of COVID-19, and possible mutations of the virus.
Both the airports and airlines have pledged to do their utmost to facilitate such sampling. They have also urged the EU to reassess the new recommendation by the middle of the month.
Up until now, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Italy have imposed entry requirements on arrivals from China. Italy was the first by implementing testing since Boxing Day, and their health authorities claim that half of the passengers’ results are positive.
