17 January 2022 - Directors General of ECAC Member States and representatives of the European Commission, EASA and EUROCONTROL assembled online for the first COVID-19 European coordination meeting of the year. They heard updates from EUROCONTROL on traffic developments across Europe, and in particular on the current travel measures, restrictions and possible upcoming changes.
While some traffic had recovered at the end of 2021, the meeting noted the sharp drop over the two previous weeks. This was because of the additional measures imposed by many governments following the emergence of the Omicron variant, which had shaken consumer confidence and weakened market demand.
The European Commission representative briefed participants on the Commission’s discussion on new measures. He underlined that the Council recommendations on internal and external travel were likely to be updated in the coming week(s) for adoption of a new common approach.
Members States shared information on measures in their own countries. They were invited to provide input on how they expected these national measures to develop in the coming weeks, to see if there was a general direction among the States that would allow for consistent approaches to be taken.