Airlines Urge Canadian Government to Reopen Air Travel

by Jessica Montevago June 08, 2021

Two major airline trade groups are calling on the Canadian government to open their air border to more U.S. travelers.

Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, has joined with the National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC), urging Justin Trudeau’s administration to outline a roadmap for a safe restart of air travel between the countries.

The letter, sent Friday, said “Safely reopening transborder air travel between Canada and the U.S. is essential for both nation’s economic recovery from the pandemic,” adding that air travel enabled $718 billion worth of trade between the countries in 2019.

The existing Canadian border measures are set to potentially be renewed on June 21. Ahead of that deadline, the airline trade groups are urging the federal government to make changes to the Canadian border and travel policy including the elimination of quarantine for fully vaccinated travelers, elimination of hotel quarantine for all travelers, and reduction of quarantine for partially vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers.

The border has been closed since March 2020, with only trade and essential travel allowed. Over a year later, those traveling from the U.S. to Canada must still prove that they are crossing the border for essential reasons, and are required to test for COVID-19 in advance and quarantine upon arrival.

In Canada, as of June 2, 2021, 59% of the population had received at least one dose of the vaccine and 4% had been fully vaccinated, with the latter number expected to increase rapidly as the rate of vaccine supply procured by the Canadian government increases, according to the letter.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation last month that he would prefer to wait until 75% of the country is vaccinated before fully reopening the border.

In the U.S., President Biden announced a National Month of Action to get 70 percent of U.S. adults at least one dose by July 4, 2021.