US, Other Countries Restrict African Air Travel Over New COVID Variant

The U.S. is moving to restrict travel from several African countries, including all of South Africa, to try and curb the spread of the recently-discovered omicron variant of the coronavirus, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

The Biden administration plans to restrict non-U.S. citizens from traveling from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.

Similar moves have already been taken by other countries, including the U.K., Singapore and Japan.

The restrictions so far consist of limits on flights from some countries, which account for a somewhat low percentage of the actual amount of international travel.

But even so, there are worries about how the variant might develop – and global airline shares have fallen with the news, including all three largest U.S. ones. International Consolidated Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, was down by over 15% as of late European trading.

According to the World Health Organization, the omicron strain is a “variant of concern,” as initial research has shown it to have an even quicker method of transmission than the delta variant.

Last week, the EU said it planned to put an emergency travel break between the EU’s 27 countries and non-members of the bloc.

The agreement said the effort would work to put travelers from those countries into quarantine-approved hotels, but would now also halt any kinds of commercial or private flights to and from those countries for two days, as of midday Friday.

The arrival of the new variant has come as airlines were operating in bigger numbers than any time since before the pandemic.

Read more: Travelers Take to the Skies this Holiday Season, But Is It Wheels up on Airline Profits?

PYMNTS reported that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said airlines had cut their first quarter losses by 124% in Q2.

The Q3 earnings were even better, with several companies like American, Delta and United all doing well.