IATA has again called on the Canadian Government to urgently discontinue its COVID-19 related travel restrictions. The industry body said that the restrictions are “now out of step with the global trend of lifting travel restrictions and are partly responsible for the ongoing delays and disruption affecting air travelers across Canada”.
“Canada has become a total outlier in managing COVID-19 and travel. Though governments across the globe are rolling back restrictions, the Government of Canada is reinstating them. The government should follow the lead of its peers, including, for example, Australia. Though that country had some of the toughest travel restrictions during the height of the pandemic, it has now lifted them, including the vaccination requirement. Rather than following this example and enabling travel and tourism to recover, those in power in Canada believe that throwing more red tape at the pandemic is the way forward,” said Peter Cerda, IATA’s Regional Vice President for the Americas.
IATA is calling on the Government of Canada to: remove random testing of international arriving passengers; end the vaccination requirement for international travel; use ArriveCAN solely as an entry tool for customs; and end Mask Mandates.
“After more than two-years of onerous COVID-19 restrictions people want to be able to travel again, as we can clearly see from the current level of demand. Ramping up the entire value chain has come with some challenges. Maintaining outdated COVID-19 restrictions contributes to the delays passengers are experiencing at major Canadian international gateways. Governments need to ensure that travel restrictions are designed to address today’s environment, not the environment of the previous two years. Now is the time for the Government of Canada to join its counterparts around the world and remove unnecessary and outdated measures,” said Cerda.