EUROPE. Leading aviation bodies have appealed to heads of state and ministers to make the proposed Digital Green Certificates ready for issue by the end of June so travel can resume for the Summer season. ACI Europe, Airlines 4 Europe (A4E) and the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) last night sent a joint letter to legislators on the matter.
Following the European Commission’s proposal for a common EU framework for the Certificates, which the industry supports, the signatories said they are “relieved and encouraged” to see the legislative process being fast-tracked. But, they added, this is no guarantee that the Digital Green Certificates will be either implemented or become operational. That rests in the hands of individual countries and their plans largely remain unclear to the industry, they noted.
Summer 2021 represents “a make or break moment”, they added, with millions of EU tourism jobs supported by aviation and the wider recovery of the sector hanging on the line.
In a direct call to action, the leadership of A4E, ACI EUROPE and ERA urged all concerned states “to take the necessary steps for an effective and timely planning and execution of all actions needed from a technical, administrative and legal point of view to be able to effectively start issuing Digital Green Certificates by June at the latest.”
They also pointed to the need “to ensure an effective and early planning and coordination … over the conditions and criteria for the easing of travel restrictions both within the EU/EEA/Switzerland and externally. The ECDC’s latest technical report provides welcome new guidance, explicitly raising the possibility of waiving testing and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers. This is an important development which now allows for exactly such planning and co-ordination for an easing of restrictions.”
As reported, the latest industry data shows a deepening crisis in the sector, with passenger traffic in Q1 down by -81.7% across the European airport network, compared to the same period pre-pandemic (Q1 2019).
