Governments ‘to insist’ on vaccines for flying, says Qantas boss

Alan Joyce says he believes passengers will be willing to accept the change

Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of Qantas Airways Ltd., during a panel discussion during the AFR Summit in Sydney earlier this month. Photograph: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg
Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of Qantas Airways Ltd., during a panel discussion during the AFR Summit in Sydney earlier this month. Photograph: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

The boss of Australian airline Qantas says “governments are going to insist” on vaccines for international travellers, the BBC reports.

Chief executive Alan Joyce said many governments were talking about vaccination as "a condition of entry" and said that even if they weren't, he thought Qantas should enforce its own policy and said passengers would be willing to accept the change.

The World Health Organisation however told the BBC: "We don't approve the fact that a vaccinations passport should be a condition for travel."

It said, regardless of what the private sector wanted, a unified approach from governments would be needed to make such a change work.

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The EU Commission this week cleared the way for the introduction of a Digital Green Certificate providing proof that holders have been vaccinated, recovered from the coronavirus or recently tested negative.

The passes are meant to facilitate trips both inside and outside the bloc, striking a balance between tourism-dependent states eager to reopen their borders and countries like France and Germany that have adopted a more cautious stance.

British Airways has been calling on the UK government to allow the use of digital health passports to verify vaccination or negative test results. The carrier asked for vaccinated travellers to be allowed to fly without restrictions, while unvaccinated passengers could be allowed on planes with a negative Covid-19 test. - Additional reporting wires