Top European Aviation Groups Urge EU Leaders To Launch Planned Digital Green Certificates By The End Of June

Top European Aviation Groups Urge EU Leaders To Launch Planned Digital Green Certificates By The End Of June ‘At The Very Latest’.

Leading European aviation groups have together appealed to EU leaders to launch the planned Digital Green Certificate by the end of June “at the very latest”. The minister for tourism in Spain recently announced that digital green passports would be ready for use by double vaccinated travellers by June.

The certificate will offer proof that a person has received a Covid-19 vaccine, tested negative or recovered from the virus, and is designed to “facilitate safe, free movement” around the 27 member states and will also be open for Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Three aviation groups – Airlines for Europe (A4E), ACI Europe, and ERA (European Regions Airline Association) – have sent a joint letter to European leaders and ministers calling for “urgent action and transparency” on the launch of the digital certificate.

The letter calls for EU politicians “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”.

The groups added: “Summer 2021 represents a make-or-break moment, with millions of EU tourism jobs supported by aviation and the wider recovery of the sector hanging on the line. Visibility across ongoing work is urgently needed, and target dates must be both set and shared as early as possible to establish the state of readiness of each EU/EEA country and Switzerland.”

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 coordination for an easing of restrictions.”

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).

Spain’s digital green passport system to be ready by June.

The general secretary of Digital Health, Information and Innovation Alfredo González, confirmed on Thursday, April 15 that travellers from Europe to Spain that hold valid ‘vaccination passports – or Digital Green Certificates as they are to be officially known in the EU – will not have to go the expense of getting a Covid test done or enter into a period of quarantine on arrival. Speaking at a National Health System meeting, the secretary said that the certificate will be rolled out in Spain in June and will open up the country to “more people in a safer manner.”

Source: Davitt