Airline appeal to states: Need for immediate coordination on Covid rules
SOS is broadcast by the global aviation industry and calls on states to establish common control rules for the pandemic.
Absolute alalum prevails in the regulations that apply to the entry in each country due to the pandemic , since there is a complete misunderstanding even between the EU states.
Governments have not been able to agree on even basic rules that will apply at their borders for 20 months , leaving travelers suffering unimaginably, or unable to travel at all.
The aviation industry emits SOS, monitoring the situation and asking states to coordinate. At the annual Airlines 2021 conference held in London, the representatives of the air carriers and their Associations, expressed their despair for the chaos that prevails in the regulations of each country, emphasizing that travelers are suffering a lot and that coordination between countries is urgently needed.
The airlines, which have been facing huge financial losses from the pandemic for more than 20 months , which are estimated at over 200 billion dollars, are again worried because due to mandatory restrictions and new rules are constantly applied. Speaking at the conference, KLM President and CEO Pieter Elbers said that in the last 21 months they have not seen any intention to harmonize rules from different countries, stressing that "even within the EU there are 26 different rules" and highlighted the harmonization as a first priority. At the same wavelength and commercial constraints are too complicated and completely different things apply to each EasyJet director, Sophie Dekkers, who said that the issue of traveldestination, even raising the issue of inconsistency.
The memories of 9/11 and the airport security restrictions that still exist and took years to be largely harmonized around the world were the topics raised by the IATA Director in Britain at the conference. He stressed that the issue is complex and the message is that the crisis is not over.
Representatives of the global aviation industry stressed that they can not even consistently inform their passengers, as many regulations change overnight. They revealed that passengers who need to change planes to reach their destination, are forced to stay 4 and 5 hours until their details are checked at each airport, depending on the rules that apply in each country on any time.
The issue of vaccination was also discussed at length at the conference, with airlines saying it was wrong to ask for additional tests on fully vaccinated travelers from many countries. This, as they pointed out, would solve a large part of the problem, since vaccinations in most European countries are moving upwards.
