The EU today approved the gradual lifting of restrictions on non-essential travel into the bloc that were imposed to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions should be lifted from tomorrow on the countries listed in the recommendation, with the list to be reviewed every two weeks.
Member states should start lifting travel restrictions at the EU's external borders for residents of 15 countries including New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Serbia and Algeria, and also China, subject to reciprocation from the latter.
The countries will need to continue to meet the EU's epidemiological criteria, including having new coronavirus cases at or below the EU average level.
The European Commission first recommended temporary restriction of all non-essential travel from third countries into the EU for one month on 16 March. EU heads of state or governments agreed to implement that restriction on 17 March and it was extended for a month on 8 April and again on 8 May, and then recommended by the commission for further extension until today.
The lifting of some EU travel restrictions comes as countries across Europe continue to reduce their own restrictions and lockdowns following the worst of the pandemic, and is likely to further boost jet fuel demand which fell catastrophically in March-May as most airlines cancelled all or most of their flights and travel almost stopped.
London's Heathrow airport — the busiest in Europe — had almost 97pc fewer passengers in May than in the same month last year. Jet fuel demand remains extremely low across Europe. Jet fuel deliveries in Spain were still 92pc down on the year in early June, according to logistics operator CLH. And independent jet fuel stocks in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub in northwest Europe reached a new all-time high last week of 920,000t, according to consultancy Insights Global.
But jet fuel values have started to recover as travel starts to increase again. Northwest European jet fuel cargoes averaged a 46¢/bl premium to North Sea Dated crude over 1-29 June, by Argus assessments, up from a $1.06/bl discount over May.
