Air New Zealand is one of the first major airlines in the world to require passengers to have a vaccination.
Air New Zealand requires vaccinations on international flights
Air New Zealand will require all passengers traveling on international flights to be fully immunized starting February 1, 2022. All passengers aged 18 or older will be required to have their vaccinations. All passengers aged 18 years or older will have to show proof that they are not currently vaccinated. All adult passengers traveling on international Air New Zealand flights without exceptions for medical reasons will need to be vaccinated.
Here's how Greg Foran, CEO of Air New Zealand, describes this policy decision.
We are getting ready to connect with the world. Customers will be able to know what they should do so that they can take off as soon as possible. Many of the places Kiwis would like to travel to are closed to non-vaccinated travelers. We can fly Kiwis to New York, Vancouver, and Narita if we are vaccinated quickly. Customers and employees have both expressed their concern about this measure. It was clear that employees felt this way in recent consultations. We want to protect them as much as possible. Customers and employees will have peace of mind knowing that everyone onboard has met the same health standards as them. There will always be those who disagree. We know that this is the right thing to take to protect our customers, our people and the wider New Zealand community. We will spend the next few weeks ensuring that this is done correctly and runs smoothly for our customers. Anyone who wants to travel next year has plenty of time for their vaccinations.
For international flights, Air New Zealand requires vaccination
It's not surprising that this policy is in place
Although some airlines have added vaccine requirements to employees, there aren't many airlines that require passengers to be vaccinated. Qantas is the only airline that I can recall, having announced this policy in 2020 and then reaffirming it recently. Canada has also announced that air travel will require vaccination, but this is a government policy and not an airline policy.
It's not surprising that there will be airlines offering this policy if they do exist. This is especially true when you consider the possibility that international travel from New Zealand could require vaccinations.
During the pandemic, New Zealand had some of the most restrictive border restrictions. New Zealand's latest plan to reopen its borders will allow it to welcome low-risk visitors as early as 2022. This is in addition to achieving a high vaccine rate. We will see if the plan works, but it is hard to know if it does. The pandemic has been a major challenge.
Qantas will require vaccinations for international flights.
Bottom line
Air New Zealand is the second airline worldwide to announce plans for passengers to have their vaccines in order to fly. The airline will require that all passengers on international flights be vaccinated by February 2022.
The general New Zealand plan to reopen its borders has not been finalized. It is therefore anyone's guess whether international travel from and to New Zealand will be possible.
