International travelers would need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to fly with Qantas Airways Ltd, the Australian company has said, the first major airline to suggest that such rules could become common across the industry.
Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce late on Monday said that the Australian flag carrier would implement the measure once a COVID-19 vaccine is made available to the public.
“We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travelers that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft,” he told Channel Nine television.
“Whether you need that domestically, we will have to see what happens with COVID-19 in the market, but certainly, for international visitors coming out [to Australia] and people leaving the country, we think that is a necessity,” Joyce said.
Joyce said that the rule would likely become standard practice around the world as governments and airlines consider the introduction of electronic vaccination passports.
However, other major regional airlines said that it was too early to comment on what travel requirements might be when a vaccine becomes widely available.
“We don’t have any concrete plans to announce at this point on the vaccine as it is still in development and will take time to distribute,” a Korean Air Lines Co representative said.
Japan Airlines Co similarly said that it had “no plans to require international travelers to have a vaccination” and is for now asking “passengers to follow rules of their destinations, such as taking tests.”
Vaccination entry requirements are already widely used around the world, with many countries demanding travelers show they have been inoculated against yellow fever if they are coming from regions where the disease is endemic.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) late on Monday announced that it was in the “final stages” of developing a digital health pass that it said can be used to record COVID-19 tests or vaccinations and would “support the safe reopening of borders.”
“We are bringing this to market in the coming months to also meet the needs of the various travel bubbles and public health corridors that are starting operation,” IATA director-general and chief executive Alexandre de Juniac said.
Australia’s borders have effectively been closed since March to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed more than 1 million lives worldwide.
The country has even limited the numbers of its own citizens allowed to return each week, leaving tens of thousands of Australians stranded overseas.
Qantas has grounded more than 200 planes and laid off 8,500 staff as it attempts to offset a US$1.9 billion loss caused by the collapse in demand for air travel.
IATA last month said that after a predicted 66 percent drop in global air traffic this year, airlines’ revenues are expected to be down by 46 percent next year compared with last year.
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