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It could be a big day for the Regina and Saskatoon airports.
The Government of Canada scrapped COVID-19 vaccine mandates for domestic and outbound passengers on Tuesday, a move that Regina Airport Authority president and CEO James Bogusz has been eagerly awaiting.
“We’ve been talking with the federal government now for a number of weeks about reducing these restrictions, and one of the biggest ones we have here in Regina of course is this vaccine mandate for domestic travel,” Bogusz said on the Greg Morgan Morning Show before the announcement was made.
“It’s hundreds of millions (of dollars) right across the country of unrealized economic potential being capped right now. A lot of families want to reunite. Not everyone chose to get the vaccine, so (we’re) really hoping to see that change.”
The announcement was made late Tuesday morning. The change means unvaccinated Canadians can get on planes, trains, and buses heading to domestic or international locations, but the travellers will have to quarantine when returning to Canada from another country.
The government also lifted vaccination requirements for federally regulated workers, allowing airline and airport employees on unpaid leave to return to work and ease the labour crunch that has caused long security and customs queues at some Canadian airports.
The new rules are to come into effect next Monday. The full vaccination requirement for foreigners entering Canada will not change, two government sources told The Canadian Press.
Bogusz said traffic at the Regina airport has returned to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic numbers — and traffic has gone up by 25 per cent in the past 60 days alone.
He said he hopes Tuesday’s announcement will increase traffic even further.
“Because of the vaccine mandate, roughly 20 per cent of our customers can’t get on a plane right now,” Bogusz said. “We’re going to expect a significant boon as soon as that mandate’s removed to allow those customers to travel again.”
— With files from The Canadian Press