Canada extends travel restrictions

Passengers to Toronto Pearson Airport experience delays, as officials extend Covid-19 related regulations for anther month

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) reports that more than half of international travellers transiting the Pearson Airport faced consistent delays during last week, due to staff shortages and increased restrictions processing.

“Data from the week of May 23 to 29 shows that more than 129,000 passengers were affected by metering and holding, which is an increase of 13,000 passengers from the previous week. This represents almost 53 per cent of total international arriving passengers.

“While the addition of more CATSA and CBSA officers will help, there are still too many passengers being held on board aircraft, thus duplicative public health questions and processes are another unnecessary delay for international arriving passengers, particularly at peak times,” explained GTAA spokesperson Tori Gass.

In order to ease procedures, the airport representatives recommend passengers to arrive at the hub two or three hours in advance of their scheduled flight.

As for Covid-19 travel restrictions, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada just extended them by at least one more month. Tourists are still required vaccination proof upon entry, while authorities will perform random testing for the disease. Unvaccinated Canadians will need proof of a negative test at all times. Moreover, the ArriveCan form will be filled by all travellers.

Nevertheless, there are voices that insist that the current regulations must be urgently dropped.

“As vaccines are not preventing the spreading of the virus since omicron, there is no more logic to maintain it. This will also relax some of the operational challenges at the airports,” tweeted WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.

Victoria Clarke, CEO of Tourism Mississauga, also added:

“The recent travel experience will have detrimental and lasting effects on how our region is perceived on the international stage and is having negative impacts on new international investment for the Toronto region.”

More than 45.000 international arrivals a day are expected for the summer season.

 

Source: toronto.ctvnews.ca