Qantas boss: Governments will ‘insist’ passengers are vaccinated

AFP via Getty Images
Leah Sinclair21 March 2021

The boss of Australian airline Qantas has said that "governments are going to insist" that international travellers are vaccinated.

Chief executive Alan Joyce told the BBC that many governments were talking about vaccination as "a condition of entry".

He said even if this didn’t happen the airline should enforce its own policy to keep passengers and crew safe.

Mr Joyce said the “vast majority” of Qantas customers thought this was a “great idea”.

“Ninety per cent of people that we’ve surveyed think it should be a requirement for people to be vaccinated to travel internationally,” he said.

Last month, Qantas pushed back it date for resuming international travel to the end of October when the Australian government hopes to have vaccinated all adults.

"The number one flight by a significant amount is Perth to London non-stop," said Mr Joyce.

The demand for the ultra-long haul flights is, he says, "a good indication" that after pandemic passengers will try to avoid changeovers in airports filled with other people.

The lack of passengers means that in the last six months of 2020 Qantas lost $800m (£580m, A$1.03bn).

Foreign holidays for Brits this summer are currently under threat at a third wave of coronavirus gripped Europe.

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Spi-M modelling group which advises the Government, added that there was a danger that new variants could jeopardise the vaccination programme later in the year.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that international travel this summer is, for the average holidaymaker, sadly I think, extremely unlikely.

“I think we are running a real risk if we do start to have lots of people going overseas in July and August because of the potential for bringing more of these new variants back into the country.”

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