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Canada is soon set to have an additional 8 airports around the country welcoming international travelers. The news is bound to be welcomed by not only locals planning trips to other countries, but also by travel and tourism related companies up and down the country, with the increased interconnectivity expected to result in an increase in the number of tourists flying into Canada after almost two years of extremely low numbers.
The expansion of the number of airports welcoming international travelers comes as the rules regarding passenger and crew vaccination go live, with politicians citing Canada's vaccination levels as one of the reasons why this has been allowed to happen. Here's a look at which airports this is set to affect, plus a recap on the travel related rule changes that are set to affect Canada in the coming weeks.
More Airports Welcoming International Travelers – What Travelers Should Know
Canada's border regulations have been extremely strict throughout the course of the pandemic, as the country aimed to keep its people safe from Covid-19 infection by minimizing the risk of importing cases from abroad. As a result, international air traffic was severely restricted in the country – along with land border crossings and cruises travel – with most of Canada's airports unable to welcome international flights as a result. However, that is all set to change in just a few weeks.
Eight more airports in Canada are set to be allowed to receive international travelers once more, as the country slowly peels back its Covid-19 restrictions and looms towards opening up once more. The airports in question are:
- St. John’s International
- John C. Munro Hamilton International
- Region of Waterloo International
- Regina International
- Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International
- Kelowna International
- Abbotsford International
- Victoria International
The addition of those airports – from November 30th – will see the total number of Canadian airports accepting international travelers rise to 18, adding to the following 10 airports that were already cleared for accepting international arrivals:
- Halifax Stanfield International
- Québec City Jean Lesage International
- Montréal-Trudeau International
- Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International
- Toronto Pearson International
- Billy Bishop Toronto City Centre
- Winnipeg James/Armstrong Richardson International
- Edmonton International
- Calgary International
- Vancouver International
Speaking about the country's decision to reopen, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said:
“Increased vaccination levels have allowed us to safely re-open these additional Canadian airports to international passenger flights. This measure will help ensure that travellers are able to access more regional airports for their international travels this winter, while continuing to support the Government of Canada’s measured approach to re-opening our border.”
The date from which the 8 airports will be able to receive international travelers is also the date that a significant change in travel policy will go live in Canada. From November 30th, both staff and passengers leaving from a Canadian airport will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The rule applies to all travelers above the age of 12, and will apply to both domestic and international flights.
This is just one of several changes that Canada has made to its travel-related policies in recent weeks. As well as reopening its land border with the US at long last, Canada has also lifted its non-essential travel warning that has been in place for most of the pandemic, and released its own version of a vaccine passport.
Read More:
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