Airports calling for elimination of COVID-19 screening requirements to relieve backlogs

Canadian airports are calling on the federal government to further ease COVID-19-related screening requirements as they continue to deal with disruptive passenger backlogs. Interim President of the Canadian Airports Council Monette Pasher said that airports were able to accommodate the restrictions in a timely way when passenger volumes were way down because of the pandemic, but they have struggled as passenger volumes return to normal. “In terms of international travel, really our airports can't easily facilitate these public health requirements as we've gotten back to regular travel,” she said. “We could do it when we were moving 10 per cent of (normal passenger volume) and up to 50% of passengers. But from the first week of May, we've got back to 70% of pre-COVID levels and it's very difficult to facilitate normal travel with these restrictions in place.” Pasher acknowledged that the biggest issue causing the backlogs is a worker shortage and said that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority — the Crown corporation responsible for security screenings at Canadian airports – has been working hard to streamline the recruitment and training process. But she said the federal government could do more to help the situation by removing random tests and public health questions for arriving passengers. “Our biggest issue really, at Pearson, is in regards to international arrivals and the need to remove testing from our airports and some of these public health requirements,” she said.<br/>