The European Union is deliberating on Thursday about the travel ban that President Trump has imposed on most European countries. European Council President Charles Michel said efforts are being made to prevent "economic disruption."
The US president has suspended all flights from Europe to the United States starting Friday at midnight, for a period of thirty days. The travel ban for Europeans is a measure to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus in the US. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a global pandemic yesterday.
The American measure takes effect on Friday but does not apply to residents of the United Kingdom, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe. Americans currently staying in Europe are allowed back into the US after thorough screening. The president initially said the ban would also affect cargo traffic between Europe and the US, but later retracted that. "The restriction stops people, not goods."
Trump stated that the European Union has not taken the same protective measures as the United States and did not cease flights from China to Europe early enough. The US already imposed a travel ban at the end of January for foreign travelers who had been in China fourteen days prior. Similar restrictions were imposed in late February for people who had been in Iran.
European rules on the use of airport slots for takeoff and landing times are being temporarily relaxed. Brussels will introduce legislation 'very soon' so that airlines forced to cancel flights due to the coronavirus will not lose their historical rights to European airports, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The virus has an 'enormous impact' on the aviation industry, Von der Leyen said. Airlines currently have to operate 80% of their flights according to their previous allocations to retain the rights to operate those flights next season. For that reason, many carriers are now flying partially filled planes. The aviation sector had already requested leniency last week. Previously, European slot coordination decided not to enforce rules for the time being.