A rising number of nations around the world are saying travelers will need a COVID-19 vaccination before visiting.
According to The Associated Press, officials from Australia’s largest airline, Qantas, said that once coronavirus vaccines are widely accessible, they will be required for passengers before they travel to or from the island continent.
Qantas Chief Executive officer Alan Joyce said the airline is currently developing ways to electronically verify that people have received the necessary vaccine for their intended destinations.
“We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travelers, that we will ask people to have the vaccination before they get on the aircraft,” Joyce told The AP.
Qantas isn’t the only carrier working on the changes, as South Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air, also announced Tuesday it would require vaccinations, as “governments are likely to require vaccinations as a condition for lifting quarantine requirements for new arrivals.”
Korean Air spokesperson Jill Chung said any change to screening or vaccine rules would be the result of coordination with local governments.
Aviation authorities in New Zealand echoed Chung’s position, with Air New Zealand saying, “Ultimately, it’s up to governments to determine when and how it is safe to reopen borders and we continue to work closely with authorities on this.”
Many international airlines are working on trials of “Common Pass,” an app endorsed by the World Economic Forum that aims to provide a standardized format for airlines to evaluate the coronavirus test results of passengers. IATA also announced it is working on a COVID-19 Travel Pass app that would make it easy for flying passengers to quickly display their COVID credentials at airports.
“With the world coming closer to coronavirus vaccines and negative tests also becoming requirements for lifting travelers from self-quarantines in countries across the world, airlines are feeling the need for an effective system to screen passengers for vaccinations and tests,” Chung said.
