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The commercial aviation sector was one of the most affected by the Covid pandemic – 19, social distancing and the closure of air traffic within the United States and international flights led this industry to lose billions of dollars.
Despite the fact that a few months ago with the advance of vaccination air traffic restrictions were lifted, commercial aviation has not finished recovering from the economic impact left by the pandemic of the Covid – 19 and, now, must face fear causing the new Omicron variant .
The strain has generated concern among US health authorities, as the big question from experts has to do with whether Omicron could be more transmissible than the original virus or Delta. Omicron is present in South Africa, United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Canada, Spain, so far.
Dutch health officials publicly reported on Sunday that they had detected at least 13 cases of the new variant in 61 Passengers who tested positive for Covid – 19 on two flights from South Africa .
The US government as of today temporarily prohibited the entry of visitors from South Africa and seven southern African countries. This comes less than a month after pandemic restrictions were lifted banning visitors from South Africa , United Kingdom and more than 30 countries entering the United States.
This government decision, again, will have an economic impact on airlines, especially if not only flights to Africa are restricted, since if extended it could have severe economic implications for the aviation industry
According to CNBC, Airlines for America, a firm dedicated to lobbying major US airlines such as American, Delta and United, through the spokesperson Carter Yang reported that putting restrictions would put the industry and the economy in serious trouble l.
“International travel is essential to revive economies around the world, supports millions of tr posts down in the United States And abroad, it revitalizes communities and brings together families, friends and people who have not seen each other in almost two years or more, ”he said in a statement. .
“In the midst of this rapidly evolving situation, it is critical that decisions by the United States government regarding restrictions and requirements for international travel is rooted in science ”, he added.
Concerns about Omicron and new travel restrictions caused airline and aerospace stocks to fall last Friday, although network operators fell slightly on Monday for the tomorrow.
Until now, US airlines have done their best to ensure that all their operational staff at airports and office are fully vaccinated with the so that no one is infected by the virus, but so far it is not known how the strain may affect those who are already immunized, for this reason the Airlines of America has urged that the authorities use scientific evidence to make decisions .
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