Guidelines for COVID-19 testing and quarantine of air travellers

At the end of October, the European Commission issued a Communication on additional COVID-19 response measures, mandating EASA and ECDC to work on guidelines on testing which could be used by public health authorities, airlines and airports to help the safe arrival of passengers – and to develop an EU Health Safety testing protocol, with the full involvement of national authorities.

On 2 December, the Guidelines for COVID-19 testing and quarantine of air travellers issue 1 was published following a swift consultation process with members through the EASA Stakeholder Advisory Body who summarised the contents as follows:

“The document outlines evidence on travel-related measures for air travel presently in use across Europe and possible options for their management by member states. The guidelines are an addendum to the EASA-ECDC Aviation Health Safety Protocol.

The document is based on the following considerations:

• In the current epidemiological situation, where SARS-CoV-2 is established in the community of all EU/EEA countries and the UK, imported cases account for a very small proportion of all detected cases and are unlikely to significantly increase the rate of transmission. 
• The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in travellers is estimated to be lower than the prevalence in general population or among contacts of confirmed cases.
• Travellers should not be considered as a high-risk population, nor treated as contacts of COVID-19 cases, unless they had been in known contact with a confirmed positive case.
• Travellers should be treated in the same way as local residents and be subject to the same regulations or recommendations as applied to the local population.
• Member states should always admit their own nationals and Union citizens and their family members resident in their territory and should facilitate swift transit through their territories.

In terms of the specific operational recommendations for member states’ consideration on the risk classification according to the criteria in Council Recommendation 2020/1475, the document offers the following guidance:

1. Available evidence does not support quarantine and testing of travellers as an effective public health measure in substantially reducing overall transmission in the general population, except when a country has reduced transmission levels to close to zero. Particularly in the current epidemiological situation, systematic testing for SARS-CoV-2 and/or quarantine of air travellers is not recommended.
2. Once the epidemiological situation has improved, If countries are considering the adoption of screening or quarantine of incoming travellers, the following should be taken into account:
   1. When travel is taking place from a lower risk to a higher risk area or between areas of similar risk, there is no public health benefit in testing and/or quarantine of travellers before departure or upon arrival in the destination country. Exceptionally, for travel between two high-risk areas, when travel is taking place from an area with a very high incidence rate, a combination of testing and shortened quarantine period could be considered.
   2. When travel is taking place from an area of high or unknown risk to a lower risk area, based on modelling studies, a combination of testing and shortened quarantine could be considered.
3. Where a country or an area has achieved consistent sustained control of the virus having a 14-day incidence close to zero, all incoming individuals from regions with community transmission should be tested before entering the COVID-19-free areas. Given the 14-day incubation period and the possibility of asymptomatic disease, these travellers should undergo quarantine and be tested rapidly, if they develop COVID-19 compatible symptoms. In the absence of symptoms, they should be tested again at the end of the quarantine period.”

Following the publication of the guidelines, ERA along with A4E, IATA and ACI Europe issued a joint press release calling on EU/EEA and UK Governments to immediately abolish passenger quarantines given that the guidelines confirm their ineffectiveness, particularly where transmission of the virus is already widespread.

ERA Director General, Montserrat Barriga, commented that "we stand ready to work with EASA, the ECDC and national governments to implement the most effective efficient and effective methods to get Europe moving again".