IATA urges Asia to loosen travel restrictions
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged Asia-Pacific states to further ease border measures to speed up the region’s recovery.
Asia-Pacific’s international passenger demand for March reached 17% of pre-Covid levels, after having hovered at below 10% for most of the last two years.
“This is far below the global trend where markets have recovered to 60% of pre-crisis levels. The lag is because of government restrictions. The sooner they are lifted, the sooner we will see a recovery,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
“The demand for people to travel is clear. As soon as measures are relaxed there is an immediate positive reaction from travellers,” Walsh added, in a keynote address at the Changi Aviation Summit.
IATA urged Asia-Pacific governments to continue easing measures by removing all restrictions for vaccinated travelers, and scrapping quarantine and testing for unvaccinated travellers.
The mask mandate for air travel should be lifted if no longer required in other indoor environments and public transport, Walsh said.
“Supporting and more importantly accelerating the recovery will need a whole of industry and government approach. Airlines are bringing back the flights. Airports need to be able to handle the demand. And governments need to be able to process security clearances and other documentation for key personnel efficiently,” said Walsh.
Walsh noted the two big gaps in the Asia-Pacific recovery are China and Japan.
“So long as China continues to maintain their zero-Covid approach, it is hard to see the country’s borders reopening. This will hold back the region’s full recovery.”
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