German airlines call for urgent harmonisation of travel conditions
FRANKFURT am MAIN, Germany, October 21, 2021
Positive trends are currently being witnessed within the German travel and air traffic business; however, a steady recovery still remains a distant goal. This was pointed out by the Board of Airline Representatives in Germany (Barig).
Even though passenger traffic has increased during vacation time in fall, the travel process as well as the vacation experience is still severely impaired by inconsistent regulations in different countries.
This is due to the states’ continuing unco-ordinated approaches in key processes within the travel chain, such as entry and exit rules or the declaration of risk areas. The consequent lack of transparency leads to more complex service processes, which might require more time and higher costs for companies and travellers.
Accordingly, Barig has appealed to the responsible politicians to support the urgently needed harmonisation of travel conditions.
Secretary-General Michael Hoppe said: “Freedom of travel and mobility does not only belong to the most basic rights of people, but also plays an eminently important role in the recovery of national economies. Therefore, it is right to re-open borders given the previous successful efforts in fighting the pandemic.
"However, the lack of co-ordination among the different countries and states is slowing down the upswing in travel, with corresponding consequences for people and the economy. Thus, we call on politicians to push forward harmonisation and co-ordination matters, which is in the interest of every country and their citizens.”
Towards that end, Barig has advocated the following:
- co-ordinated entry and exit rules
- harmonised recognition of vaccination, recovery, and testing certificates
- uniform declaration of risk areas
- co-ordinated, uniform rules for travel between the EU and other potentially opening countries such as China, India, and others.-TradeArabia News Service
