Omicron restrictions hurting airlines’ recovery
Dhaka: New travel restrictions to contain the coronavirus variant Omicron are putting the recovery of international flights behind, creating delays and worries in some regions, said airline and airport officials of many countries.
The flurry of new testing rules and border closures have raised concerns ahead of the important Christmas travel season, although some airline bosses said they hope any backward moves will be short-lived.
Global airlines have blamed a patchwork of shifting rules for depressed demand for international travel, which is critical for their return to profit following steep Covid-19 pandemic-related losses in 2020.
UN agencies specialising in aviation and tourism pleaded on December 7 for travel restrictions in response to new coronavirus variants to be imposed only as a last resort.
Japan has banned foreigners, the United States is requiring a Covid-19 test 24 hours before flying, and travellers to Singapore now must be tested daily for seven days after arrival.
“We were seeing accelerating openings until Omicron,” Campbell Wilson, chief executive of Singapore Airlines budget offshoot Scoot, said at an event held in Sydney on December 7 by the CAPA Centre for Aviation, which provides analysis of the aviation and travel industries. “We have seen basically a pause since then,” Wilson added.
“If you put up more obstacles and testing and other things, some people will decide not to travel,” said Peter Kern, Chief Executive of online travel website Expedia.
Sue Carter, Head of Asia Pacific at booking technology firm Travelport, said she has seen some searches go down week on week, adding that traveller confidence tends to be closely linked to government announcements.
A spokesperson for trade group Airports Council International (ACI) World said the global patchwork of travel rules is placing challenges on airport operations and called for better coordination between countries.
At Calgary International Airport, the line upon arrival is longer than it had been before the introduction last week of a plan by Canada to eventually test all passengers arriving from countries other than the United States, an airport spokesperson said.
A Reuters reporter departing from a US airport to Montreal in early December had to repeatedly inform airline agents of an update that exempted Canadian passengers returning to the country after less than 72 hours abroad from needing a Covid-19 test.
Qantas Airways Chief Executive Alan Joyce said his hope is that once more is known about Omicron, the 72-hour isolation requirement would be removed. “We still haven’t figured out whether this is a spanner in the works or a fly in the ointment,” Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Director General Subhas Menon said of Omicron. “From what we see now, it looks more like a fly in the ointment that is still good for using.”
