International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged the US government to remove the pre-departure testing requirements for travellers flying to the US.
IATA has stated that vaccinated passengers add no risks to the population, while increased immunity levels, rising vaccination rates and new therapies indicate to rove pre-departure testing.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, commented,“The experience of Omicron has made it clear that travel restrictions have little to no impact in terms of preventing its spread. Moreover, as Omicron is already broadly present across the US, fully vaccinated travellers bring no extra risk to the local population. “
“International travellers should face no additional screening requirements than what is applied to domestic travel. In fact, at this stage of the pandemic, travel should be managed in the same way as access to shopping malls, restaurants or offices.”
Meanwhile, a recent survey from IATA showed that 62% of respondents support removing a testing requirement for those who are fully vaccinated.
