Iata and airlines have echoed calls for the US government to remove the pre-departure testing requirement for fully vaccinated arrivals into the country
The trade association, Airlines for America (A4A) and 28 US and international aviation and travel and tourism stakeholder groups urged action from Washington.
The demand came the day after US Travel Association president and chief executive Roger Dow issued a plea to US officials to follows the UK’s lead on the issue.
Iata added to the pressure for change, insisting that vaccinated travellers add “no additional risks” to the domestic US population.
“Increased immunity levels, the pervasiveness of Covid-19 in all 50 US states, rising vaccination rates and new therapeutics, all point to removing the testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers,” the association said.
Iata director general Willie Walsh added: “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.”
The organisations noted that the EU has recommended that its member states remove Covid-19 travel restrictions for travel within the EU, and the UK has announced the removal of pre-departure testing for vaccinated air travellers to enter the country.
The UK concluded that the cost to both passengers and airlines of the testing mandate could no longer be justified as there was no evidence the regime protected the population from Covid.
Iata’s latest air traveller survey showed that 62% of respondents support removing a testing requirement for those who are fully vaccinated.
Walsh said: “Removing the pre-departure testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers will greatly support the recovery of travel and aviation in the US and globally without increasing the spread of Covid-19 and its variants in the US population.
“There is no use in closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.”