The Schengen borderless travel area consists of 22 European member states (five don’t participate) plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein a major chunk of Europe across which there is currently no movement allowed.
Most of them were closed on the 17th of March when 30 members of the EU and the Schengen area entered lockdown at the same time; a lockdown that was due to end this week.
However, the EU has now asked its members to extend the current lockdown until at least May while it considers adding further restrictions, as suggested by France President Emmanuel Macron, suggestions that both he and the President of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, feel ought to stay closed until September if not later.
https://twitter.com/EU_Commission/status/1247932296151347201
In what some are calling an extreme reaction, the French President has suggested that the European Union should close the Schengen area to foreigners for at least another five months. The president pointed out that the virus is spreading at different rates around the world with the US still not at its peak. Opening airports to allow non-essential travel over the summer could result in travellers bringing a second wave of the virus to Europe as now seems to be happening in Asia.
The French president said that people who thought they could go abroad were going to be in trouble. A remark that comes close to the recommendations of the Minister of Ecological Transition Elisabeth Borne.
“Now is not the time to buy a ticket to go to the other side of the planet with all the uncertainties that we can have about the state of the epidemic” in France and around the world, she said.
So, if the Schengen area remains closed, airlines hoping to fly into European destinations over the summer months could be very disappointed.
Many airlines have been hoping that the summer will allow for fairly regular schedules as restrictions lift. If Macron’s proposals are accepted, not only will Europe be off-limits for foreigners, but those living within the Schengen area will be told to avoid travel to other countries in the area and, of course, the closing of the borders will also have an impact on Europe’s economic recovery.
