Stopover abroad is the loophole that allows no vax to fly to Italy
We predicted this as soon as we read the legislation, and it didn't take long to see the loophole applied in real life. [...]
We predicted this as soon as we read the legislation and it didn't take long to see the loophole applied in real life.
In this article:
As of Jan. 10, it is in fact impossible to take any public transportation, including airplanes, to travel in Italy.
The same, however, does not happen if you arrive from abroad; re-entry to Italy is guaranteed for all citizens, regardless of vaccination status. Of course, for those who are not in possession of the super green pass, a 5-day isolation would be required, but we have known from day one that these controls, in fact, have never been put in place due to the impossibility of controlling all citizens' movements.
The "no vax" loophole
A small premise, this is not meant to be a criticism of those who freely choose not to vaccinate.
Certifying the trend was an article in the CorSera which, data in hand, reconstructed the sky commuting of passengers who, having to travel from one point to another in Italy, make a triangulation with a flight that passes through a foreign stopover.
This is not a miles run, much less of a strategy to take advantage of points or miles, simply those who have to move to the islands for example found it convenient to fly from Milan to Barcelona and immediately get off the plane, check in again and embark for Sardinia or Sicily. All with just one standard green pass, the one that you get with a quick pad and lasts 48h. This practice covers not only travel to the islands, but also travel from north to south of the boot, and vice versa.
In fact, thanks to the laughable fares of low-cost airlines at this particular time in history, it is possible to spend as little as 50 euros for a Bergamo/Palermo via Paris.
It is also impossible to trace the actual numbers, since as per tradition the tickets of companies such as Ryanair, EasyJet and the other low-costs are point-to-point, so passengers only need to book two single tickets. The combination of the lack of Schengen border controls and the inability to track travel makes this practice virtually impossible to stop.
The possible combinations are endless, considering that one could take off from Bergamo with Ryanair to Budapest and from there depart with Wizzair towards Bari. Or take advantage of border stopovers, such as Nice for Ligurians, and fly to Rome and other parts of southern Italy.
A little advice to those who choose this mode to move around while waiting for better times. The EasyJet's Flight Club could be a perfect way to turn excess routes into an advantage for all upcoming trips.
In conclusion
The famous Italian saying "fatta la legge trovato l'inganno" (made the law found the deception) fits like a glove, although-it must be said-it was very predictable, given that in the past 20 months of travel bans to countries where tourism is still banned, we have seen travelers go almost everywhere.
