IATA has added its voice to the list of opponents to travel testing for travellers from China with the association’s director general calling the measures “knee jerk,” ineffective, and based on politics, not science.

The comments from Willie Walsh come as European Union nations fine tunes a coordinated response to China’s COVID-19 crisis and zero in on travel restrictions that have upset both Beijing and the global airline industry.

Other countries, including Canada, US and UK have similarly introduced measures that require a negative test result before accepting travellers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

“Several countries are introducing COVID-19 testing and other measures for travellers from China, even though the virus is already circulating widely within their borders,” said Walsh. “It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years.

“Research undertaken around the arrival of the Omicron variant concluded that putting barriers in the way of travel made no difference to the peak spread of infections,” he added. “At most, restrictions delayed that peak by a few days. If a new variant emerges in any part of the world, the same situation would be expected.

“That’s why governments should listen to the advice of experts, including the WHO, that advise against travel restrictions. We have the tools to manage COVID-19 without resorting to ineffective measures that cut off international connectivity, damage economies and destroy jobs. Governments must base their decisions on ‘science facts’ rather than ‘science politics.’

Walsh, who steadfastly opposed traveller/border testing throughout most of the pandemic, also urged China’s government to remove the need for pre-departure COVID-19 testing for those travelling to China.

China, meanwhile, has vehemently rejected the travel restrictions that nations have started to impose and has warned of “countermeasures” if such actions should be expanded in coming days.