Forced once again to cancel a substantial number of flights due to COVID-19, the WestJet carrier demanded that the federal government give a clear timetable for its plan to lift health measures.
Once again, the Alberta company has announced an extension of the suspension of 20% of its flights, this time until March 31. The carrier had previously made such announcements effective for the months of January and February.
“Canada remains the only G7 country that still requires PCR testing on departure and arrival [au Canada]“, protested the president and interim general manager of the Alberta company, Harry Tailor.
“Travel warnings, restrictions and mandatory testing were meant to be temporary, but our industry has reached an impasse that is severely hampering the recovery of our sector and business,” Mr. Tailor added.
The leader therefore calls for an easing of health measures. In his view, travelers who wish to come to Canada could be satisfied with having to pass a screening test on arrival, without doing one on departure, and should not be forced to quarantine while awaiting their results. .
“It’s disappointing that Canada remains static in its approach and continues to make travel inaccessible by punishing Canadians and tourists who come here,” said Harry Tailor.
The Public Health Agency of Canada had indicated that it opposed, in mid-January, the lifting of systematic screening at the border.
“It is also important for monitoring. It is not only a question of diagnosing travelers individually, but also of detecting a new variant”, had in particular justified the Dr Howard Njoo, deputy head of the federal agency.
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Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com