By Jamie Freed

SYDNEY – Omicron has impeded a nascent recovery for Asia-Pacific international travel. Governments tighten their rules. But airline executives say that they expect any backward movements to be brief-lived.

The international passenger traffic to Asia-Pacific in October was just 5.4% below pre-pandemic levels. However, some rules regarding border crossings were eased in Australia, Japan and Thailand in November, before the Omicron variant became known late in the month.

Campbell Wilson, the chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines (OTC) and budget offshoot Scoot stated that “we were seeing accelerating openings up until Omicron”, at Tuesday’s CAPA Centre for Aviation event.

He said, “We’ve seen basically a stop since then.” He said, “We haven’t seen many retrograde steps though there have been some exceptions.”

Omicron seems to be causing the problem by introducing new rules to travel. Airlines blame this patchwork for low international demand.

Japan https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-pm-kishida-says-foreign-visitors-be-barred-entry-nov-30-2021-11-29 has banned foreigners, the United States https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/new-us-covid-19-international-travel-testing-rules-take-effect-monday-2021-12-02 is requiring a COVID-19 test 24 hours before flying and travellers to Singapore now must be tested daily for seven days after arrival.

Omicrom’s arrival follows travel slowdown after the Delta strain emerged in India. The Omicrom variant spread worldwide, although vaccination rates are now higher and doctors continue to assess whether it causes severe illnesses.

Subhas Menon of Association of Asia Pacific Airlines stated that Omicron was still being figured out. It looks like an ineffective fly in the ointment, which is still safe for use.

Traveller confidence often is directly linked to announcements from the government according to Sue Carter, Head of APAC at Travelport.

She said that she had seen searches drop week-on-week.

Omicron also causes scheduling issues for airlines who are trying to change to meet changing needs.

Because of the Omicron variant, travellers arriving in Australia from Sydney or Melbourne who are fully vaccinated must remain at home for 72 hours.

This compares to an earlier policy that allowed no isolation. Hawaiian Airlines added five weekly Honolulu–Sydney flights beginning this month rather than the initial three planned, said its chief executive Peter Ingram.

His comments about the route included: “I’ll tell you that there won’t be any full planes in the first few days.” But we have seen some good bookings during the January holiday. We believe it will recover.”

Alan Joyce, Chief Executive of Qantas Airways stated that he hoped the 72-hour isolation rule would be lifted once Omicron was more fully known.