The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed “deep frustration” at new rules for arrivals due to come into force in Canada on 7 January 2021. The new requirements will mean that passengers must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours before planned departure to Canada, although the country has declined to lift existing travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.
The organisation says that the combined measures are the ‘worst of both worlds’ and it is unrealistic for airlines to have to check passengers’ compliance with the new rule. It also questioned the need for PCR tests as opposed to other forms of Covid test accepted by other countries.
IATA says that Canada already has one of the world’s most draconian Covid-19 border control regimes. It says that while it believes that testing inbound travellers is the way forward this should be as a replacement for quarantine measures.
The organisation said, “After nine months of closed borders and confinement, we cannot afford to move in the wrong direction with the disastrous implementation of a counter-productive testing policy.”