Free Movement within the EU due to the Digital COVID Certificate

Free Movement within the EU due to the Digital COVID Certificate

As from February 01, 2022, new rules for travel apply within the EU. From then on, the digital COVID certificate, presenting either a certified vaccination or recovery status or a certified negative test result, authorizes passengers to travel to another EU country for business or vacation. Consequently, travelers within the EU can once again enjoy free mobility as the pandemic situation and the incidence rates in the respective country of entry or exit are no longer the determining factor.

With this new recommendation, the EU member states are following the EU Commission’s proposal presented in December 2021. Accordingly, there shall be exceptions only for countries classified as high-risk areas. Recently tightened travel restrictions as well as further constraints set up by individual member states, such as an additional testing obligation for vaccinated and recovered people or an entry ban for unvaccinated people, are about to be lifted again.

According to the new recommendation, vaccinated, recovered, and negatively tested people who are in possession of the digital COVID certificate (as integrated into the CovPass or Corona-Warn-App in Germany) are allowed to travel freely within the EU. However, the following new regulations must be observed:

  • For fully vaccinated and recovered people, there shall be no further testing or quarantine obligations in the country of entry. Vaccination certificates are valid for 9 months after having received the second dose. Proof of recovery must not be older than six months.
  • For non-vaccinated people, a test prior to departure is still required. Both, a PCR test (not older than 3 days) and a rapid antigen test (not older than 24 hours) are accepted. When traveling from or to a high-risk area, an additional quarantine is still obligatory in the country of arrival.
  • For children under the age of 12, certain exceptions continue to apply.

In addition to the vaccines approved by the EU, Chinese vaccines will also be accepted, as well as other vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the member states’ national authorities.

BARIG Secretary General Michael Hoppe states: “This is good news for the travel and air traffic industry. Individual restrictions and tightened constraints have made travel enormously difficult in recent months. The modification and implementation of uniform measures and entry requirements within Europe are essential to ensure stable travel procedures and free mobility. We therefore hope that the EU member states will also comply with the new recommendation effectively. In this way, travel can be facilitated again, first within the EU and then, in a next step, on a global level as well.”

News Corner

BARIG news

Marabu Airlines on Board: BARIG Welcomes Another Airline from the Tourism Segment to the Community

• Young, dynamic airline with currently around 30 vacation destinations

The airline association BARIG (Board of Airline Representatives in Germany) grows further and welcomes...

Read on

BARIG Networking & Conference Day – ITB 2025 Kick-Off

Spotlight on Tourism Trends, Innovation, and Sustainability - On March 3, 2025, BARIG welcomed numerous representatives from its member airlines and business partners as well as high-level speakers...

Read on

New Member in the Tourism Airline Segment: Corendon Airlines Joins Airline Association BARIG

• Operating at around 20 airports in Germany
• „BARIG membership is part of our strategy for sustainable success“

Read on

BARIG & AOC FRA New Year’s Event 2025 – Meet & Mingle

On February 18, 2025, our airline and industry partner community gathered at the Hilton Frankfurt Airport for the first-ever BARIG & AOC FRA New Year’s Event.

Read on

Power for Air Freight: BARIG Air Cargo Committee Has Now Co-Chairmanship

• Jorge Carretero of LATAM Cargo and Thilo Schäfer of Condor are co-chairmen now
• Together driving forward important topics such as digitalization and process optimization in...

Read on

BARIG Full Board II/2024 – In Focus: Airport Infrastructure and SAF Market Situation

On November 15, 2024, the BARIG team welcomed numerous representatives from its 100+ member airlines and business partners to the Full Board Networking & Conference Day at the Dorint Hotel...

Read on

    All news

    BARIG member & partner login

    Please login for full website access.

    BARIG News

    Stay up to date about German aviation news and the BARIG network.

    BARIG news

    Please add your name.
    Please add your email address.
    Invalid Input

    Please make a selection.
    Please make a selection
    Please agree to the use of your personal details
    Invalid Input