Airlines, airports back calls for travel to be Covid test free

Australia’s aviation industry has backed calls for the removal of all barriers to travel including Covid tests and quarantine.

Aviation and travel bosses have urged the easing of international travel restrictions. Picture: Getty Images

Australia’s aviation industry has backed calls from the International Air Transport Association for the removal of all barriers to travel including Covid-19 testing and quarantine.

IATA director-general Willie Walsh said the time had come to relax travel restrictions worldwide, in recognition that fully vaccinated travellers were no more likely to spread Covid-19 than the general population.

He said the billions of dollars being spent on Covid-19 tests would be better allocated to vaccine distribution or strengthening healthcare systems.

“The current situation of travel restrictions is a mess,” said Mr Walsh. “There is one problem – Covid-19 – but there seem to be more unique solutions to managing travel and Covid-19 than there are countries to travel to.”

Research from the Migration Policy Institute counted more than 100,000 travel measures around the world for passengers, airlines and governments to manage, he said.

“We have two years of experience to guide us on a simplified and co-ordinated path to normal travel when Covid-19 is endemic,” Mr Walsh said. “That normality must recognise that travellers, with very few exceptions, will present no greater risk than exists in the general population.”

Some countries had begun removing the requirement for pre-arrival tests providing travellers were fully vaccinated, including the UK, France and Switzerland.

Australia now requires overseas arrivals to undergo a rapid antigen test 24 hours before departure, rather than a PCR test within 72 hours.

Mr Walsh said more countries needed to follow their lead.

“The failure of travel restrictions to limit the international spread of Omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time,” he said.

“We must aim at a future where international travel faces no greater restriction than visiting a shop, attending a public gathering or riding the bus.”

A Qantas spokeswoman indicated the airline was on board with IATA’s position, after actively lobbying various states to do away with pre-flight Covid-19 tests and quarantine. Late last year, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said “many customers have strong intentions to travel (internationally) if border and quarantine settings are right”.

Virgin Australia said it was also in favour of open travel. “We will continue to work with governments to assist in the recovery of the tourism and aviation industries,” a spokeswoman said.

Australian Airports Association chief executive James Goodwin said testing should only be for people with symptoms.

“As the world population becomes more vaccinated, it is important we start to ease and then end testing for international travel,” he said. “Australia needs to safely reopen to the rest of the world to enable families to reconnect and allow the economy to start to recover.”

The Australian Tourism Industry Council said it wanted to see travel restrictions within Australia eased as a matter of priority, after a 52 per cent downturn in tourism activity in the December quarter compared with the same period in 2019.

The ATIC’s Daniel Gschwind said, given the level of vaccination, it made no sense for borders such as those in Western Australia, to remain closed.