Washington: Airlines and various travel groups urged the White House on Wednesday (Feb. 2) to end COVID-19 pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international passengers travelling to the United States.
Airlines for America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, International Air Transport Association, Aerospace Industries Association, the U.S. Travel Association and other groups called for a change in a letter to White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients.
“Surveys of air passengers indicate that pre-departure testing is a leading factor in the decision not to travel internationally. People simply are unwilling to take the chance that they will be unable to return to the U.S.,” they wrote.
Domestic leisure travel in the U.S. has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but business and international travel have not fully rebounded. From early 2020 through last December, spending in the U.S. on travel has dropped by a cumulative $730 billion, and many jobs in the sector have not come back, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
In December, the Biden administration imposed tougher new rules requiring international air travellers arriving in the United States to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel.
Under prior rules, vaccinated international air travellers could present a negative test result obtained within three days of their day of departure.
The White House and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) previously considered but have never imposed testing requirements for Americans to board domestic flights.
The European Union recommended countries remove intra-Europe COVID travel restrictions, the letter noted. Britain will end COVID pre-departure testing for vaccinated air travellers to enter the country starting Feb. 11.
The groups said, “travel and aviation’s recovery is dependent on the government taking steps to remove travel restrictions that are no longer justified by current circumstances.”
