Aviation, train, bus and shipping companies will be banned from carrying passengers from Ireland, Portugal, South Africa, Brazil and the United Kingdom to Germany from Saturday. Lesotho and Eswatini will be added on Sunday.

The German federal government is initially issuing this ban up to and including February 17, 2021, although an extension is possible. Exceptions are made, for example, for people residing in the Federal Republic, Germans abroad, transit travelers and the movement of goods.

For Lufthansa, this means that no point-to-point transport to Germany may be made from the affected countries. Transfer passengers may, however, still be brought to any German airport if they are not formally entering the country but are in transit due to the change of aircraft. The crane is currently offering around 55 flights a week to the affected states, provided these are included in the route network. A short-term reduction is to be expected. The government is currently also examining whether repatriation charter flights can be organized for German citizens who are "stuck" in the banned states. However, this would only be done if the routes were set.

Germany ignores same-day agreement at EU level

What is remarkable about the procedure is that the 27 EU ambassadors agreed on uniform but stricter entry guidelines on Friday. Flight and entry bans should be the exception, and test results should only be required in the “dark red” category. However, Germany goes it alone on the same day and bans members of the European Union along with Portugal and Ireland.

Austria's Minister of Health Rudolf Anschober (Greens) is also currently working on new entry requirements. The first draft met with considerable criticism from the federal state of Carinthia. It was planned that commuters would have to present a fresh negative test result every day. Now the regulation is to be revised, but what is certain is that it will not come into force on Monday. According to reports, all people who want to enter from “risk areas” will have to present a negative test result in the future. The quarantine should not be shaken.