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Call for an end to ‘wildly inconsistent’ COVID travel restrictions
October 5th 2021
Wildly inconsistent COVID-19 travel restrictions are stalling the recovery of air transport and the rationale for retaining them no longer exists, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) director-general, Willie Walsh. Read More » Walsh told delegates overnight at IATA’s annual general meeting in Boston that travel restrictions were a “complex and confusing web of rules with very little consistency”. They may have bought governments time to respond in the early days of the pandemic, he said, but that rationale no longer existed. “There is little evidence to support ongoing border restrictions and the economic havoc they create,” he said, and noted only 42,000 of the three million UK arrivals between February and August had tested positive. A recent IATA survey of the top 50 travel markets for global traffic found 38 had some form of COVID restrictions on who could enter and only seven had no entry restrictions or quarantine requirements upon arrival. The survey found only six of the 38 states with restrictions exempted minors when they travelled with vaccinated adults, nine did not fully recognize the World Health Organization list of vaccines and there were at least five different definitions for the point after inoculation at which vaccines were considered effective. Of 46 states requiring pre-departure testing, the survey found only 24 accepted PCR testing, 16 recognised antigen testing and 18 exempted vaccinated travellers from testing. IATA is calling for the vaccines to be made available as quickly as possible and for an end to travel barriers for vaccinated travellers. It argues testing should enable those without access to vaccines to travel without quarantine and that governments should pay for testing so it does not become an economic barrier to travel. It also supports antigen testing as the most cost-effective and convenient regime.
