The global airline association criticized on Wednesday the government’s decision to impose Covid tests and other measures on travelers from China as an ineffective “knee-jerk” reaction.
Many countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan and France, insist that all travelers from China present a negative Covid test before arrival.
The move comes as China grapples with a spike in infections after Beijing rejected strict containment measures last month.
“It is very disappointing to see these knee-jerk recovery measures that have proven ineffective over the past three years,” said Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, in a statement.
IATA, which represents 300 airlines with 83 percent of total air traffic, said the coronavirus had spread across the borders of countries that carried out the tests.
“Research conducted on the arrival of the Omicron variant (by the end of 2021) concluded that creating barriers to travel would make no difference to the spread of peak infections,” Walsh said.
“We have the tools to manage COVID-19 without resorting to ineffective measures that kill international connectivity, damage the economy and destroy jobs,” he said.
Global passenger traffic, which collapsed due to the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020, is expected to reach 70.6 percent of pre-crisis levels in 2022 – less than previously forecast as China has maintained strict travel restrictions.
Chinese authorities have announced that they will stop requiring quarantine for people arriving on January 8.
Beijing called the international ban on travelers from the region “unacceptable” on Tuesday and warned it could take measures “based on the principle of reciprocity”.