Plan will not require social distancing on planes, recommends phased approach to opening borders.
In a bid to save a tourism industry collapsing under the weight of COVID19 restrictions, the European Commission today unveiled a phased plan for reopening borders, airports and hotels to allow some amount of leisure travel to resume in time for the summer.
The focus, the EU executive says, will be on reinventing tourism to make it both more safe from a health perspective and more sustainable from an environmental perspective.
“We aim to create safe conditions in every mode of transport, to the extent possible, both for people traveling and transport workers,” said EU transport commissioner Adina Vălean. “As we re-establish connectivity, these guidelines will provide authorities and stakeholders a standard framework. Our priority is to restore mobility as soon as possible, but only with clear provisions for safety and health.”
Tourism is a major sector in the EU, accounting for 10% of its economic output. A collapse of the sector, which depends on a busy summer season each year, would put 10,000 European jobs at risk. Air passenger traffic fell by 90% in April, and the OECD estimates the sector faces a 45 to 70% decline, with losses up to €400 billion.
Borders
The Commission outlined a three-phase approach in which blanket bans will be replaced by targeted measures. Travel restrictions should first be lifted between countries and regions with similar epidemiological situations. That would mean two countries experiencing a similar low caseload and infection rate would establish ‘travel corridors’ between them. Such measures are already in place between some EU countries, including the three Baltic states. The British and French governments are reportedly in talks to establish a travel corridor between them.
