Canada to ease Covid restrictions for rest of June

To ease the long wait times that travellers have encountered in recent weeks, Canada is suspending random Covid-19 testing at all its airports for the rest of June, a government statement said on Friday.

Random testing was blamed by some industry officials for lengthening already long wait times at airports. Toronto's Pearson airport has had planes stuck at gates and hours-long security lines because of staffing shortages.

The random testing will be discontinued from Saturday and will resume "off-site" on July 1, the statement said.

The government "recognizes the impact that significant wait times at some Canadian airports are having on travellers," the statement said, adding that it would continue to "implement solutions to reduce delays as we approach the summer peak season."

The country's largest carrier Air Canada cancelled almost 10% of flights from Pearson during the first week of June, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company.

Suzanne Acton-Gervais, interim president of the National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) which represents Air Canada and privately held WestJet Airlines, said the move "will improve conditions at Canada's airports and reduce complexity for travellers."

Airlines around the globe that faced a travel slump during the pandemic have been counting on a strong summer. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) has hired 865 screening officers since April to help manage an increase in travellers.

Canada's opposition Conservative Party has said Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been slow to act to remedy airport congestion.

[with inputs from agencies]

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