Airlines
IATA Calls For an End to Covid Travel Restrictions
Travel restrictions prompted by the outbreak of Covid's Omicron variant undermined a somewhat encouraging recovery in demand for flights in 2021.
IATA identified Covid travel restrictions in countries like China as having inhibited what might have been a stronger air transport recovery in 2021. (Image: AIN)
IATA identified Covid travel restrictions in countries like China as having inhibited what might have been a stronger air transport recovery in 2021. (Image: AIN)

The reintroduction of travel restrictions in response to the outbreak of the Omicron variant of the Covid virus in late 2021 weakened what looked to be a relatively strong year of recovery for airlines. Year-end figures for 2021 released Tuesday by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) painted a mixed picture of the industry’s global fortunes that the group’s director-general, Willie Walsh, argued directly related to governments’ approaches to the imposition of travel rules.