Canada’s restrictive travel policies are impinging on the freedom of movement and taking a severe toll on people, businesses and the economy, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned in a statement issued Tuesday.
The association says it is “critical that the Government of Canada is prepared to progressively reconnect the country to the world” when officials believe it is safe to do so and that a collaborative dialogue between industry and government will help this process by:
- Efficiently implementing policy measures, including the global guidance of expert organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization
- Understanding and monitoring the benchmarks that the government is setting to eventually resume connectivity
- Ensuring that measures can be implemented in the international context with minimal inconvenience to travellers
“We are eager to support the leadership of the Honorable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport for Canada. This means implementing the measures needed to safely manage through the pandemic. But we must also ensure that there is a plan in place to energize the eventual recovery by restoring the freedom of movement and reconnecting the people and businesses of Canada, both internally and with the world,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Airport, Passenger, Cargo & Security.
