NZ Airports, representing the nation’s airports sector, has repeated today’s call by Air New Zealand’s CEO for the Government to drop requirements for travelers to take a Pre-Departure Test (PDT) before flying to New Zealand.

Chief Executive Kevin Ward said the association wholeheartedly agreed with Greg Foran’s call to drop PDT requirements for inbound travel.

“New Zealand is increasingly out of step with other nations’ requirements on inbound travelers and, at this stage in the pandemic, the testing obligation is no longer a significant contributor in reducing COVID’s impact in New Zealand. However, it certainly does have a negative impact on airline passengers’ willingness to travel here.

Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, and Fiji have all recently dropped the requirement for vaccinated travelers to have a pre-departure test. The United Kingdom and many parts of Europe have not had a testing requirement for some time.

New Zealand’s requirement for Pre-Departure Tests has a further negative impact on rebuilding the travel industry and is increasingly out of step.

“As other countries drop their own testing requirements, it is becoming harder and harder for ordinary travelers in those countries to get the required tests done before flying into New Zealand.

“Re-building the New Zealand travel and tourism sector is not helped by an extra barrier for international tourists, particularly when the PDT requirement doesn’t appear to have an offsetting benefit,” Mr Ward concluded.

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