Malta’s stringent COVID travel rules could soon be relaxed to no longer make vaccination mandatory for entry, Chris Fearne has said.

The Health Minister and deputy prime minister said authorities are looking into the possibility of also allowing travellers into the country upon presentation of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result.

Malta currently requires all travellers from countries on its red list to present a valid vaccination certificate to be allowed into the country without having to quarantine.

Fearne said the intention is to introduce a negative test result rule where possible, to make it easier for tourists to visit during the peak summer months.

He said the government was in talks with “partners at the EU” about the issue and claimed that Malta is working “in harmony with other EU member states when it comes to travel where possible”.

“Travelling involves crossing from one country to the other so it is useless for us to have rules that are not similar to those of other countries,” he said.

Despite Fearne's statement about EU-wide travel rules, Malta's entry rules are more stringent than those of other EU member states. It is the only EU member state that does not accept COVID recovery certificates or a negative COVID-19 test result as valid for entry.

Malta has also come under EU scrutiny for its rules on the duration of COVID-19 vaccination certificates. While the EU has said that such certificates are valid for nine months from the last shot of an initial vaccination schedule, Malta is restricting the validity of such certificates for Maltese nationals to three months.

MIA boss warns: Malta at a significant disadvantage

Among those criticising Maltese authorities for existing travel rules is Malta International Airport, which has called for restrictions to be rapidly eased to ensure Malta does not lag behind its rival destinations.

“Malta is being placed at a significant disadvantage when compared to other European airports, which apply significantly less stringent rules to incoming travellers,” MIA CEO Alan Borg told Times of Malta.

“In fact, several countries, including Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, will be lifting all COVID-19 travel restrictions by the end of March, while other countries continue to ease restrictions gradually to facilitate travel.”   

Malta’s insistence on applying more stringent rules, Borg said, was imposing unnecessary hurdles for travellers and also undermining consumer confidence in the tourism industry.

Malta International Airport CEO Alan Borg says Malta is lagging behind other countries.

Earlier on Wednesday, public health chief Charmaine Gauci rebuffed suggestions that Malta should start accepting COVID recovery certificates as valid for entry, saying that the matter was being looked at but that reinfections of recovered individuals meant such certificates were of limited relevance.

Speaking at Wednesday’s press conference, Fearne said the EU would be hosting talks about easing travel rules for 12-to-17 year olds later this week. Locally, authorities are looking into the possibility of extending the validity duration of vaccine certificates for this age cohort.