European travel organisations have urged the creation of a ¡°stable and coherent¡± framework of Covid-19 rules across the continent to allow travel to restart safely this spring.

Eight transport groups, including Airlines for Europe, European Travel Agents¡¯ and Tour Operators¡¯ Association, European Regions Airline Association and eu travel tech, said they were worried about the ¡°new patchwork¡± of restrictions being introduced by different countries.

The associations pointed out how several countries were making up their own rules for the validity of the EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC), which the EU said in December would be valid for nine months without a vaccine booster jab.

¡°Several EU countries, including France, Italy, Denmark and Malta, decided to shorten the validity of vaccination passes for national use to seven or three months,¡± said the travel groups in a joint statement.

¡°A number of countries have also introduced additional testing requirements that apply to vaccinated and recovered EU travellers, going against the current European Council recommendations.¡±

The travel groups said they were ¡°very concerned at this emerging new patchwork of rules across Europe¡±, and called for a harmonised validity period for the DCC across the EU.

¡°Member states should align with the Council recommendations as they are agreed and updated from time to time, so that travel between member states is possible under equal conditions across the EU at all times,¡± they added.

¡°This inconsistency in travel restrictions across the EU directly impinges on individual passengers and businesses to schedule future trips. The transport and tourism industry still sees booking rates at least 30 per cent below 2021 levels.¡±

The travel associations said that co-ordination between national governments was now needed to provide ¡°clear, safe and consistent rules to support traveller confidence¡±.