Summary
- Qantas airline plans on making COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for international travellers.
- The airline is also thinking of making it compulsory for domestic flights.
- Qantas share price has risen on the news about border opening of states.
Australia's largest airline, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce expressed that international visitors and people departing Australia will require to be vaccinated against COVID-19 mandatorily. To be allowed to travel, passengers will need to provide proof that they have had COVID-19 vaccination. The new terms and conditions of Qantas have created quiet a stir among passengers, especially among anti-vaxxers.
On Monday night, speaking to Channel Nine's A Current Affair program, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that it would soon be necessary for international visitors to be vaccinated once a vaccine is available. He added that the airline was planning to change its terms and conditions for international travellers.
It will be a possibility that the passengers will require to have a vaccination passport as proof which will let them travel. The airline could ask the people if they have been vaccinated or not, before they can get on the aircraft, he said.
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Is Qantas CEO making vaccine mandatory only for international travel?
With coronavirus forcing countries to close their borders, international travel has been impacted severely. Flight cuts and massive staff lay-offs have shaken the airline industry across the world.
Most importantly, the company is also looking to have the same requirements for domestic air travel as well. Qantas CEO said that he had also spoken to other international carriers’ chief executives and they were all on the same page to make the vaccination mandatory for travel. It would be a possibility that the new method to prove the vaccine will be launched as a vaccination passport, an electronic version of the vaccination certificate. He further stated that the airline and Australian Government were busy working on this technology and logistics.
COVID-19 vaccine Australia update
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and oxford vaccine are currently ambitious about delivering the results. The team that is working on producing COVID-19 vaccine said that its vaccine candidate’s efficiency was as high as 90 per cent.
Another vaccine, developed by the University of Queensland and biotech company CSL, is also set to move to the next level of state three trials. In other parts of the world, the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine is 95 per cent effective and asked the administration to allow emergency use of it.
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When will international travel resume?
After many months, the border between New South Wales and Victoria has reopened followed by which Qantas reinstated flights between Sydney and Melbourne on Monday. However, to resume international travel, the Australian government has decided to wait until the vaccine is available, so that travel restrictions can be lifted.
Meanwhile, families and friends at the border of Queensland and New South Wales are pleased to celebrate their reunification as the border is set to open on December 1. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that the plan to reopen NSW-QLD border is on the cards as the state has seen no virus cases for 28 days.
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Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) share price is trading at A$5.530 as on 24 November 2020 at 11:54 AM AEST. Its market capitalisation is A$10.10 billion.
