Through a joint statement, the main players in the air transport industry in Latin America and the Caribbean asked the governments of the region to eliminate all travel restrictions related to COVID that are still in force more than two years after the start of the pandemic, and when the majority of the population has already been vaccinated.
Some countries still require PCR or antigen tests at origin, the presentation of vaccination certificates, the homologation of vaccines, COVID insurance and completing tedious affidavits as part of the migration process, all measures that threaten the consolidation of the air traffic recovery process .
The letter, in which the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA), the International Airports Council for Latin America and the Caribbean (ACI-LAC) and the Organization of Civil Air Navigation Services (CANSO), also requests to abandon the use of the mask on board, both on national trips and between countries where it is no longer required indoors.
“COVID-19, and specifically the Omicron variant, is now widespread throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and the population’s immunity is at such levels that the risk of hospitalization or death has been drastically reduced, especially for people vaccinated. States are adopting surveillance strategies to ensure public health, just as they do with other coronaviruses and infectious diseases,” the statement said.
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“Countries without COVID testing requirements have been shown to be the ones where aviation recovers the fastest. Air transport is essential for the social and economic development of the countries of the region and we can only expect a full recovery of this industry and all those that depend on it, if the restrictions and requirements related to COVID are eliminated”, they concluded. .
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