On Thursday night, the heads of government in the EU sat together to try to avoid closed borders and rule chaos for Europe’s Christmas travelers.
The Omikron variant has created fear on the continent. The infection is increasing everywhere, and the EU countries are now vaccinating the inhabitants on hard life before the new variant gets a foothold. Meanwhile, several countries are introducing entry restrictions.
Portugal, Italy and Greece have now all introduced corona test requirements, in addition to a valid corona passport documenting vaccination.
The European Commission has been working hard since the summer to keep Europe’s open borders and coordinate new measures, but now the scheme is cracking.
But the Greek prime minister says the country has no choice.
“The restrictions will only apply through Christmas, so we can buy ourselves time to give refreshment doses to as many people as possible,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Reuters.
Extra difficult for Norwegians
Norway is currently at the very top in Europe when it comes to corona infection, and Sweden is now introducing requirements for corona passports from Norwegians who want a trip across the border.
In the past, Nordic countries have been exempted from such a requirement, but now the neighboring people are tightening.
“With the large spread of the virus that we are seeing right now, I can understand that the authorities in many countries are introducing measures,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told Reuters.
Finland goes one step further and, according to broadcaster YLE, will require a corona test in addition to vaccination certificates from Norwegian travelers.
The trend appears to be the same as when the corona crisis broke out in March 2020; Despite promises of cooperation, many countries prioritize protecting their own first.
– NON: France is now banning entry for British citizens without a valid errand in an attempt to delay the omikron variant. Photo: NTB Scanpix / Gonzalo Fuentes.
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France, for example, has today banned the entry of all British citizens who cannot document valid errands in the country.
– In the coming weeks, many will be on the road, so we will urge that the EU can coordinate a set of rules so that it is as easy as possible to travel, said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo before today’s summit.
Dangerous for the aviation industry
If it again goes against rule chaos in Europe, the already hard-hit aviation industry will once again struggle.
– Government-imposed travel restrictions hit aviation very hard – we have seen this throughout the pandemic. If this increases in scope, we further risk having to reduce capacity further, says Eline Skari in Norwegian to TV 2.
In the worst case, this could mean both route cuts and layoffs of employees. Flight analyst Hans Jørgen Elnæs believes the airlines will do well through Christmas, since travelers who may get cold feet have already paid for the tickets.
It can get worse in January and February.
– UNFORTABLE: Aircraft analyst Hans Jørgen Elnæs believes it is a confusing situation and fears consequences for the airlines. Photo: Frode Hoff / TV 2
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– It is very unfortunate and that is what has been at the top of the agenda of the airlines’ organizations: Let us have a common policy so that each country does not do its thing. This makes it very confusing for customers and completely impossible for the airlines to plan routes, says Elnæs to TV 2.
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