The Trump Administration's 30-day ban on flights from most of Europe marks the latest blow to an airline industry already reeling from a dramatic fall in demand from a public wary of traveling during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The ban, announced Wednesday night during a presidential address from the Oval Office, begins midnight on Friday and applies to the Schengen Area of Europe, which covers Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. However, while the ban also applies to anyone “physically present” in those countries in the past 14 days from traveling to the U.S. through the UK and Ireland, the U.S. hasn’t yet clarified how it would prevent someone originating in Europe from flying through London to New York, for example. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Advance Passenger Information System does not require a declaration of places one has traveled over the past 14 days, raising the possibility of a loophole that the U.S. government has yet to publicly address.
In his address, President Trump praised his administration for mitigating the spread of the virus in the U.S. through its relatively early restrictions on travel from China. He also criticized the European Union for not acting quickly enough to do the same, implying that the measures taken by the U.S. to restrict travel from Europe have come in reaction to the EU’s slow response. The ban will not apply to U.S. permanent residents or immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
While it has yet to issue a formal policy position, U.S. airline trade group Airlines for America (A4A) issued a statement Wednesday applauding the Trump Administration's actions. “We commend President Trump for continuing to take decisive action to protect the health and well-being of the American people,” said A4A president Nicholas Calio. “The unforeseen outbreak of the coronavirus has directly impacted the U.S. airline industry, which is critical to the U.S. and global economies. This action will hit U.S. airlines, their employees, travelers, and the shipping public extremely hard. However, we respect the need to take this unprecedented action and appreciate the Administration’s commitment to facilitate travel and trade.”
Conversely, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has called for governments to either refrain from or roll-back travel restrictions. “In the majority of the countries, the spread is now predominantly through local transmission rather than from imported cases,” said the AAPA in a statement. “[The World Health Organization] has repeatedly advised against travel or trade restrictions as such measures are generally ineffective.”
The AAPA cited the WHO’s latest situation report, published on March 10, which indicates that although 90 countries had instituted some form of travel restrictions, only 45 have informed the WHO of the measures and provided their rationale as required under International Health Regulations (IHR).
“The proliferation of travel restrictions worldwide and insufficient adherence to the IHR are imposing enormous costs on society with little or no public health benefits,” said AAPA director general Andrew Herdmann. “AAPA appreciates the leadership of WHO on this issue and calls on governments to fundamentally reconsider the rationale for such travel restrictions and measures, taking into account the disruption caused to people’s livelihoods and the negative repercussions to the wider economy.”