Air NZ CEO says flexibility will be needed around Covid-19 vaccine processes for air travel

The boss of Air New Zealand says the development of a vaccine and other mechanisms to control Covid-19 increasingly seem like the only solution to opening up borders for international travel. Air New Zealand CE Greg Foran told the IATA that when a vaccine did become available it would be advantageous if everyone followed the same protocols in relation to traveller processes. ”However, it is likely that for some time we will need to be flexible,” Foran said. On Tuesday news broke that Oxford University researchers had developed an effective Covid-19 vaccine, the third vaccine announcement in less than two weeks, providing fresh hope that the coronavirus pandemic may soon be brought under control. Foran told IATA that Air New Zealand’s domestic network was operating at 75% capacity making it one of the strongest domestic networks in the world. “New Zealand initially got on top of Covid-19 much more quickly than other countries, but we need the world’s economy to be moving as well – no country operates in a silo.” He said it was hard to determine forward-looking demand with any degree of certainty.<br/>