It seems to me that each country (and in some cases each region) has their own COVID rules for travellers. I guess this will continue for some time.
So let’s say I want to fly GA from UK to Germany with a fuel/rest stop in Belgium.
I believe I could clear both immigration and customs in Belgium and wouldn’t need any further identity or customs checks within Schengen countries. Just make sure to avoid taking any ham and cheese sandwiches ;)
However I would need to satisfy local COVID regulations for both international arrival and departure. That would require a lot of research and a risk of being held somewhere as mentioned above
I’d guess that if I stayed on the apron with the plane (eg for refuelling only) then I might be able to avoid any local COVID regulations in Belgium, but if I popped in for a toilet break then that would require a whole other level. Clearing immigration and customs may not be possible in any case without passing the COVID checks too.
So I take the view that only once “double vaxxed” travellers are allowed free travel around Europe again will GA travel become feasible. Am I being too pessimistic?
Malibuflyer wrote:
Most countries have a (reasonable) protocol in place that you first do a (cheap) antigen test and only if it is possible do a more expensive PCR one – and in Germany and many other countries this PCR test is then paid by the health insurer/health system.
Sure, that is the normal protocol, but not for flying where you need proof of a PCR test. In Switzerland, PCR tests based on that are free, however those taken to facilitate travelling are not. I understand that the same applies to most other countries too.
Well, I am officially double vaxxed since about 1600 UTC today. Will have to see when the “green passport” is gonna be out, but they duely entered my vaccines into my yellow vaccination passport I had from ages ago. (I found out that I will eventually need to freshen up some other vaccines too…. )
Am I being too pessimistic?
It depends on whether your home country demands the pre-return-flight test and, if so, and if you are travelling via GA, what the penalty is if you “manage to end up home” without having done it. Presumably if travelling by airline there will be no way around that since the airline will be checking it pre-boarding, otherwise they will get fined.
To get a free PCR test here in the UK, you just contact the test centre and tell them you have a cough. I know someone who got his whole small firm tested. But the result is (obviously deliberately) not delivered in a useful form for travel; you just get an SMS.
And finally it depends on the return quarantine. The UK is not likely to abandon that anytime soon; that’s the cost of having such low numbers! The UK is also disregarding vacc status. So one would not do a lunch at LFAT 
Well done Mooney_Driver In 2 weeks you can head down to LDLO and have a fish and post a pic of it
Peter wrote:
We also have the civil liberties crowd, which is historically a Good Thing about the UK, but right now it has aligned itself with every opposition party to be a thorn in the side of the govt. And this crowd is totally against vacc certificates, against any mandatory stuff like care home staff having to be vacced, etc.
Ive said this before… When Government decides who gets vaccinated and who doesnt, then I have to say Im with the civil liberties crowd with respect to vaccine passports. As soon as everyone has free access to vaccination on demand, then that is an entirely different thing. Right now that isnt the case – even in the UK where vaccination is way ahead of most of Europe.
I see that France has just passed a bill outlining a “COVID Pass” which will be broadly aligned with the EU pass proposals and used for travel but also attending large “crowd” events. It isnt expected to come into effect until the summer if I understand correctly, which is fine my me as (thanks to the info and advice from a poster on here) Ive now been jabbed with Pfizers finest, and get my second jab in June… I think that this idea may yet actually cause problems here in France when young people discover they cant do the things they want unless vaccinated, however, testing is freely available so if this is an alternative then perhaps it will work.
Regards, SD..
Life here in my area of the US is settling down and the the CV-19 thing seems to be largely in the rear view mirror. Nobody I know locally who would like to be vaccinated isn’t vaccinated at this point, the rate of infections and (more importantly) hospitalizations is very low and decreasing. No silly vaccine passports needed.
I suspect Europe will get to same point in the end but among friends here who normally travel to Europe regularly for motorcycling (we meet on Wednesdays for dinner) the consensus is that national borders etc are such a bureaucratic mess that it will be 2022 before it’ll be a reasonable destination for our kind of e.g. three nations per day international travel. I think the priority will be to allow intra-EU tourism during the traditional summer holiday months, then as vaccination increases I think the procedural and documentation craziness will eventually end.
I van certainly see international borders being a stupid mess, the rules and their enforcement are of truly epic idiotic proportions.
Today spoke to one fully vaccinated lady who lives very close to the Dutch-German border, so close that the local shops she uses are in walking distance in the Netherlands, much closer than the closest German shops. She usually goes shopping there at least once a week.
Because Germany decided the Netherlands are a high-risk area, she now needs to produce a negative PCR test each time she returns home from the Netherlands, after spending an hour max there. Which of course was conducted in Germany. The alternative would be to use a bus to go into town in Germany, spending a lot more time in close proximity to many more other people, with an objectively higher infection risk to her and others.
Silvaire wrote:
the rate of infections and (more importantly) hospitalizations is very low and decreasing
Define “low”
According to worldometer, the USA had 687 corona deaths yesterday. That is 2 per million. Norway had 0. That is zero per million
AZ seems to have been permanently “banned” here now. Those who got one shot, will have a second shot with Pfizer. J&J has also been banned, sort of, only you can have it, if you want to. Which is pretty absurd. All vaccination is 100% voluntarily as a start. If you don’t want a vaccine, you won’t get one, no questions asked. J&J is not part of this program, but you can go to a clinic and get one. Since it is one single shot, it is also preferable in this respect.
LeSving wrote:
Define “low”
In the local area of roughly 3.5 million people there are currently about 150 people in hospital with CV-19 compared with a capacity of 6,000 beds, roughly 50 new cases being reported daily and 3 deaths per day. I’ve been double vaccinated for a while, like anyone who chooses to be so have no concerns with avoiding exposure.
Norway is not really on my radar for motorcycle riding, which is my major interest in Europe, but I’m sure its a nice place regardless Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Slovenia etc are my main areas of interest and my flights generally begin and end in Germany where we have family. I just got a new passport so counted my number of trips over the last ten years, 25 in total (probably 50 if I go back twenty years) so motorcycling In Europe is kind of a habit.
Its the daily border crossings that would completely screw up the whole thing, not to mention some issues with moving around within a single country e.g. Italy where the place is currently divided up into zones. I could probably enter Germany without issue but that would be just the start of the ‘fun’.
You can’t fight city hall as the saying goes. The 2021 alternate will be some flying trips here, within a 500 mile radius unless I get crazy.
Ot’s all about “perceived reality”
In terms of actual data, the US is even about to overtake UK in terms of “death per 100.000” and has a current death rate in the ballpark of Germany (while Germany is still at half the total deaths per population, obviously). Norway is – for several reasons – playing a different game …
