Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 38 seconds.
During a Jan. 29 press conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that in the coming weeks, travelers entering Canada will be required to quarantine in a designated hotel for three days while awaiting a mandatory COVID-19 test result. The cost, estimated to be over $2,000, will be at the traveler’s expense.
In cooperation with the government, West Jet, Air Canada, Sunwing and Air Transat have announced air service cancellations to Caribbean destinations, including Mexico, effective Jan. 31, 2021, until April 30.
In addition to the new measures, all international passenger flights must land only in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal as of Feb. 3 — for passenger screening purposes. Private/business and charter flights from all countries will also be required to land at the four airports.
According to Trudeau, the new measures are an effort to prevent new variants of the COVID-19 virus from entering Canada.
“The government asked, and we agreed,” WestJet president, Ed Sims, said in a statement. “While we know that air travel is responsible for less than two percent of cases since the start of the crisis, and even less today, we recognize the Government of Canada’s ask is a precautionary measure.”
Air Canada also responded, stating it “believes a collaborative approach with the Government of Canada involving all air carriers is the best means to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially given concerns around the variants of COVID-19 and travel during the Spring Break period.”
“The incremental impact on Air Canada’s cash burn is not material given the already reduced levels of passenger traffic resulting from COVID-19 and travel restrictions,” Calin Rovinescu, president of Air Canada, said in a statement.
Trudeau expressed appreciation towards the “Canadian Airlines and their frontline workers” for their commitment to “make air travel safer and to bring Canadians home when this pandemic struck last spring.”
The four Canadian airlines will now make arrangements with their customers who are currently in sun destinations to organize flights home.
Air Transat intends to operate dozens of flights over the next two weeks to return its customers to Canada, the company said in a press release.
Travelers who receive a negative COVID-19 test result will be required to complete the 14-day quarantine at home. Testing positive for COVID will lead to an enforced quarantine “in a designated government” facility, Trudeau said.
Since last March, Canada’s borders have remained closed to non-essential travel with a mandatory two-week quarantine period.
On Dec. 30, 2020, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced the decision to implement a negative PCR test requirement in addition to the 14-day quarantine period for travelers returning to Canada, which took effect on Jan. 7, 2021.
