SINGAPORE, 18 May 2022: The International Air Transport\nAssociation (IATA) has urged Asia-Pacific states to ease border measures\nfurther to accelerate the region’s recovery from Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Asia-Pacific is playing catch-up on restarting travel\nafter Covid-19, but there is growing momentum with governments lifting many\ntravel restrictions. The demand for people to travel is clear. As soon as\nmeasures are relaxed, there is an immediate positive reaction from travellers.\nSo it is critical that all stakeholders, including governments, are\nwell-prepared for the restart. We cannot delay. Jobs are at stake, and people\nwant to travel,” said IATA’s director-general, Willie Walsh, in his\nkeynote address at the Changi Aviation Summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Asia-Pacific region’s international passenger demand for\nMarch reached 17% of pre-Covid levels after hovering below 10% for most of the\nlast two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is far below the global trend where markets have\nrecovered to 60% of pre-crisis levels. The lag is because of government\nrestrictions. The sooner they are lifted, the sooner we will see a recovery in\nthe region’s travel and tourism sector and all the economic benefits that will\nbring,” said Walsh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walsh urged Asia-Pacific governments to continue easing measures and bring normalcy to air travel by:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Supporting and, more importantly, accelerating the\nrecovery will need a whole of industry and government approach. Airlines are\nbringing back the flights. Airports need to be able to handle the demand. And\ngovernments need to be able to process security clearances and other\ndocumentation for key personnel efficiently,” said Walsh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China and Japan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Walsh noted two big gaps in the Asia-Pacific recovery story:\nChina and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo long as the Chinese government continues to maintain\ntheir zero-Covid-19 approach, it is hard to see the country\u2019s borders\nreopening. This will hold back the region\u2019s full recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Japan has taken steps to allow travel, there is no\nclear plan for the reopening of Japan for all inbound visitors or tourists.\nMore needs to be done to ease travel restrictions further, starting with\nlifting quarantine for all vaccinated travellers and removing the on-arrival\nairport testing and daily arrival cap. I urge the government of Japan to take\nbolder steps towards recovery and to open the country’s borders,” said\nWalsh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n