'Unfair' to expect unvaccinated not to travel, says aviation body head

While vaccinated travellers should not face any barriers to travel, it would, at the same time, be grossly unfair to expect non-vaccinated people not to travel, according to Willy Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

IATA is hosting its hybrid 77th Annual General Meeting in Boston this week.

"Testing should enable those without access to vaccines to travel without quarantine. Antigen tests are the key to cost-effective and convenient testing regimes, and governments should pay for testing, so it does not become an economic barrier to travel. It is also clear that digital health credentials - documentation of vaccination or testing status - will be needed as borders reopen," Walsh said at the AGM on Monday.

"Experience even at today's low levels of travel tells us that there will be chaos in airports if we rely on paper processes."

He would like to see governments "dramatically improve" how they manage border restrictions.

"The recovery could be highjacked by complex 'made-at-home' rules. For example, governments are using at least 24 versions of country risk-assessment lists. There are at least six definitions for when a vaccine becomes effective, and there is no standard for how long a vaccine is considered good to travel," said Walsh.

"There are at least ten ways to define testing windows prior to travel and there is no consensus on the age of children for testing or vaccination exemptions. Even these few examples demonstrate that the situation is a mess. It's stalling recovery."