IATA’s new director general, Willie Walsh, says proof of Covid vaccines and test results should only be temporary travel requirements.
Travel restrictions that require proof of Covid-19 vaccines or negative tests in order to travel should only be temporary requirements, the new head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Wednesday.
“These are measures that may be necessary as temporary arrangements while we go through this crisis, but once we’re through it, we want to see these restrictions permanently removed so people can get back to traveling as they experienced back in 2019,” Willie Walsh said in his first press briefing as IATA’s director general.
Walsh said that until then travelers require access to digital health certificates to make travel easier.
Airlines, hotel companies and others in the tourism industry have urged government authorities to work toward lifting travel restrictions.
IATA, which represents close to 300 airlines worldwide, has designed its own digital health passport so travelers can start uploading their Covid-19 test results to show airlines and immigration officials.
Some airlines, such as JetBlue Airways and United Airlines, have announced trials of another digital health passport by The Commons Project Foundation.
