Follow WHO guidelines and rescind travel bans, airlines warn
Airlines have called on governments to follow the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) advice and rescind travel bans.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents the global airline industry, the Omicron variant’s discovery induced “instant amnesia on governments which implemented knee-jerk restrictions”, going against the UN agency’s advice.
“It is unacceptable that rushed decisions have created fear and uncertainty among travellers just as many are about to embark on year-end visits to family or hard-earned vacations,” said IATA’s director general and former IAG boss Willie Walsh.
Walsh also accused governments of over-reacting to Omicron, blasting the decision to introduce stricter rules for air travel.
“If there is an over-reaction — as we believe is the case with Omicron — we must have a way to limit the damage and get back on the right track,” he said.
“Whatever measures are in place need to be constantly justified against the latest and most accurate scientific knowledge.”
Walsh’s comments come a day after the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby called on the UK Government to scrap the travel red list and put an end to the “travel apartheid,” City PM reported.
In a series of tweets, Welby called the list – which encompasses 11 southern African countries including Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa – “morally wrong and self-defeating”.