WestJet has come out strongly against the recent travel advisory issued by the federal government.
“Air travel is the most tested and protected consumer activity in Canada, every person travelling internationally is tested on average twice throughout their travel journey,” said Harry Taylor, WestJet president and CEO.
“As the only fully-vaccinated air travel sector in the world, WestJet is calling on the government to publicly share the travel-related COVID-19 data that has been used to re-impose the advisory and advice targeted towards fully-vaccinated Canadians and the travel and tourism industry.”
WestJet called the advisory “a setback” to Canada’s airline industry, adding that they are out of step with policies in the U.K., U.S. and Europe.
“Travel bans, restrictions and blanket advisories are devastating to the continued economic recovery of our country and place tens of thousands of recently recalled Canadian travel and tourism jobs at risk,” Taylor said.
The federal government announced that the widely-criticized travel ban on 10 African countries will be lifted on Dec. 18 at 11:59 p.m. But Canada will be reinstating the mandatory PCR test for citizens and permanent residents who travel abroad for less than 72 hours.
In light of the new travel advisory, travel industry experts are cautioning travellers to double-check their insurance policies to ensure they have coverage against COVID-related travel hiccups.
READ MORE: Experts say travellers should check insurance coverage twice amid changing rules
READ MORE: What Canadian health officials know so far about the Omicron variant of COVID-19
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