Airlines slam ‘knee-jerk’ Covid-19 test plan for Chinese travellers

The airline industry’s global lobby group has condemned national moves to introduce Covid-19 tests and other measures for passengers arriving from China as travel from the Asian nation resumes despite a flareup in the virus.

The measures represent a knee-jerk reinstatement of steps that have proven ineffective in stemming the pandemic over the past three years, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement Wednesday.

IATA director-general Willie Walsh said travel restrictions have been shown to delay the peak of new waves of coronavirus by only a few days, rather than halting them, while at the same time strangling off international connectivity, damaging economies and destroying jobs.

“Governments must base their decisions on science facts rather than science politics,” Walsh said.