Qantas airways says international travellers would require to get vaccinated against COVID

International Travellers would need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to fly with Qantas Airways, the company said. Alan Joyce, the Chief Executive of the Australian based airways said that the new rule would be implemented after the vaccine would be available to public. With Pfizer-BioNtech, Modern and Oxford-AstraZeneca announcing successful vaccines, experts say that vaccine could become the new normal when flying on airplanes.

'Electronic vaccination passports'

Speaking to Channel Nine, Joyce said that the airlines were looking to alter their “terms and conditions” for international travellers asking them to get vaccinated before climbing on the aircraft. In addendum, he also stressed that the situation of “COVID-19 in the market” would decide if vaccination should be mandated for domestic travelers or not, but it was absolutely “necessary” for those traversing in and out of Australia. Joyce also predicted that the rule is likely to become standard practice around the world with governments and airlines currently considering the introduction of “electronic vaccination passports”.

Qantas Airways, the flag carrier of Australia, has been operating a limited number of flights to and from New Zealand owing to coronavirus restrictions. In addendum, they are also operating special flights to London, Paris, Frankfurt to bring stranded people home. Apart from this, however, all international flights currently remain suspended.

Read: Qantas Launches 'Flight To Nowhere' To 'reignite The Joy Of Flying'; All You Need To Know

Read: Qantas 'Flight To Nowhere' Departs Sydney

While Qantas is contemplating compulsory vaccination, British Airways has said that it will start testing passengers flying from the US to London’s Heathrow Airport for COVID-19 in an effort to persuade the British government it should scrap rules requiring most international travellers to quarantine for 14 days. The airline says the pilot program will offer voluntary testing starting Nov. 25 in partnership with American Airlines for passengers flying to Heathrow from New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

Read: American Airlines Shows COVID Sanitization Process

According to AP,all the passengers would be tested 72 hours before departure, on arrival at Heathrow and again three days after arrival. British Airways says its goal is to show that a single test 72 hours before takeoff is enough to ensure travellers aren’t carrying COVID-19, allowing authorities to end the quarantine requirement.

Read: British Airways, American Airlines Plan Voluntary COVID-19 Testing Plan

Image: Skytrax