Excerpt from Politico
Airlines worry that new variant will end the short-lived industry revival.
Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like the worst was over.
The U.S. had finally lifted its 19-month-long travel ban on Europe, and the revival of lucrative transatlantic routes promised to buoy an industry that's estimated to have lost $6 trillion since the start of the pandemic. British Airways chief Sean Doyle called it a “moment to celebrate.”
But that optimism may turn out to be premature. The arrival of the coronavirus Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, is causing countries to rush out new travel restrictions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on EU countries to suspend all air travel from variant-hit countries. At the time of the announcement, that meant restricting flights from six southern African nations.
As clusters of Omicron cases have started to appear across the bloc — including Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the U.K. — countries are taking things a few steps further.
Poland, for example, has announced a 14-day quarantine for anyone coming from outside the EU’s visa-free Schengen zone. Spain has tightened its travel rules, requiring vaccinations for people coming from the U.K.
Switzerland, meanwhile, has introduced a 10-day quarantine and negative PCR test requirement for non-Swiss nationals or residents traveling from countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the Czech Republic.
The British government has moved to reintroduce PCR tests and self-isolation requirements for all visitors from abroad (except for those traveling from Ireland). And further afield, Israel and Japan have effectively closed their borders.
Airlines are watching with foreboding as countries batten down the hatches.
International Air Transport Association chief Willie Walsh accused governments of responding to the new variant — about which much still remains unknown — in “emergency mode.”
“As quickly as possible we must use the experience of the last two years to move to a coordinated data-driven approach that finds safe alternatives to border closures and quarantine,” he said.
Airlines for Europe (A4E) said new variants should be monitored but border closures should be a "measure of last resort." Travelers could find alternative routes to enter the EU via non-EU hubs, where the same standards of testing may not apply, the lobby group suggested.
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