SYDNEY Reuters -- A nascent recovery in Asia-Pacific international travel demand has been set back by the Omicron variant as governments tighten rules, but airline bosses say they hope any backward moves will be short-lived.
In October, international passenger traffic in Asia-Pacific was just 5.4% of pre-pandemic levels, the lowest of any region in the world, but some border rules were relaxed in November in Australia, Japan, Thailand, Singapore due to the discovery of Omicron variants late in the month.
We were seeing accelerating openings until Omicron, Campbell Wilson, chief executive of Singapore Airlines budget offshoot Scoot said at the CAPA Centre for Aviation event on Tuesday.
He said we've seen a pause since then. We haven't seen a lot of retrograde steps, though there have been some exceptions. Omicron seems to be worsening the problem, as airlines blamed a patchwork of travel rules for depressed international travel demand.
COM business healthcare-pharmaceuticals new-us international- travel testing rules require a COVID 19 test 24 hours before flying and travellers to Singapore must be tested daily for seven days after arrival.
The Omicrom variant's appearance follows a downturn in travel after the Delta variant emerged in India and spread globally, but health experts are gauging whether the new variant causes as severe illness as other variants.
We still don't know if this is a spanner in the works or a fly in the ointment, Association of Asia Pacific AirlinesAsia Pacific Airlines Director General Subhas Menon said of Omicron. It looks more like a flying in the ointment that is still good for using, based on what we see now. Sue Carter, head of APAC at Travelport, said traveller confidence tends to be linked to government announcements.
She said that some searches went down week on week.
Omicron has resulted in scheduling headaches for airlines trying to adapt to changing requirements.
In Australia, full vaccinated travellers to Sydney and Melbourne must isolate themselves at their hotel or in a hotel for 72 hours after arrival because of the Omicron variant.
Hawaiian Airlines has added five weekly Honolulu-Sydney flights starting this month, compared to an earlier policy of no isolation, according to chief executive Peter Ingram, which had led to the addition of five weekly Honolulu-Sydney flights, rather than an initial plan for three.
He said that the airplanes are not going to be full on the very early days. We see a lot of good bookings over the holiday period into January. We think it is going to recover. Qantas Airways Chief Executive Alan Joyce said he hoped that once more information was known about Omicron, the 72 hour isolation requirement would be removed.