Airlines call for clarity on vaccinated travellers

Canada's largest airlines are renewing their call for a clear plan from Ottawa on resuming international travel after the European Union moved to reopen for vaccinated tourists.

EU ambassadors today agreed to a plan that would allow fully vaccinated travellers to visit the 27-nation bloc, as well as relax restrictions for all travels from some other countries that are deemed COVID-19-safe.

Mike McNaney of the National Airlines Council of Canada lauded the EU for its "science-based approach" and says the federal government should outline a similar plan.

He says Canada should say when it will remove or adjust travel restrictions for those who are vaccinated against COVID-19, as a number of other countries have done recently.

Our release 👇re: announcement by the EU Commission recommending fully vax travellers be able to enter the EU, and call for 🇨🇦 gov't to urgently develop a clear re-start plan for aviation including treatment of vax passengers #cdnpoli https://t.co/8zZXZf5HDX

— NACC-CNLA (@NACC_CNLA) May 19, 2021

The council represents large national and international passenger air carriers including Air Canada, Air Transat, Jazz Aviation LP and WestJet.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said earlier this month that G7 countries have agreed that resuming international travel after the pandemic will require a co-ordinated approach to COVID-19 testing and recognizing whether passengers have been vaccinated.