More steps needed beyond suspended COVID-19 testing to ease delays: travel industry

By The Canadian Press

The head of the Canadian Airports Council says Ottawa’s suspension of randomized COVID-19 testing at customs marks a “big step” toward draining clogged terminals, but that more measures are needed to clear the runway.

Monette Pasher says wait times and arrival tarmac delays at large airports improved immediately after the step went into effect Saturday.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced a day earlier the federal government would pause tests of arriving international passengers selected at random, and that mandatory rapid tests for unvaccinated arrivals will happen off-site starting July 1.

The airports council and other industry groups are now calling for an end to vaccine mandates for passengers and aviation employees, saying that hundreds more workers could be on the job supporting more travellers.

The government continues to require 14-day quarantines of unvaccinated Canadian passengers and to bar unvaccinated foreigners from entry.

Ottawa says the country’s airport security agency has hired 865 screening officers since April, with more coming as Canada’s four largest airports gird for a 50 per cent rise in passenger numbers within weeks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2022.

The Canadian Press

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