Even with travel restrictions in place, Omicron case numbers are climbing across the world.
Government and health officials have asked Canadians to cancel their travel plans to help ease the spread.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said, “We know how difficult it is for Canadians to have to postpone their travel to visit family or friends or to take a break. We are also aware of the many Canadians who are listening and are cancelling their trips.”
However, some people are not afraid to fly. They say that with restrictions in place, boarding the plane does not make them feel unsafe. Rather, the opposite.
A traveller at the Saskatoon airport, Nivi, said she has not seen her family since the pandemic began.
With high hopes of flying to India and full vaccination status for her family members boarding the plane, she decided not to cancel her trip.
“It’s always risky to travel, but if it is something very essential, everybody has their own priorities. I think it’s a good, it’s their own choices to make,” said Nivi.
On her way to Las Vegas, Colette mentioned she also has not been on a plane in two years.
However, with a mix of work and pleasure, she also did not want to cancel her trip and agrees that people are doing their best to make flying as safe as possible.
Between vaccines, masking and sanitization, she said she is excited to hop on a flight once again.
“Everybody is trained now and they know what to expect,” said Colette.
Many people are travelling to see family over the holidays but Utsang said his work schedule has him catching flights around 65 per cent of the time.
The frequent flyer mentioned there is nothing holding him back from getting on a plane, even the Omicron variant.
“It is scary, but it is what it is. We can’t stop our work,” said Utsang.
But according to Jamie Milton, Owner of Uniglobe Carefree Travel Group in Saskatoon, cancelling flights brings up more concerns than a missed trip.
For the economy and those in the travel industry, it can have long-lasting effects.
“To be perfectly honest, I’m quite angry,” said Milton.
She sent a letter to her Member of Parliament, Kevin Waugh, and other members of the federal government to express her frustration with the recent travel advisory.
While noting about only 20 per cent of her clients have cancelled their trips, Milton shames the government for punishing the travel industry even though there are numerous restrictions in place to keep travel safe compared to other industries.
“Every time this happens you lose more staff, you have more layoffs, you have that longer impact so you know this isn’t going to be a short-term impact with this restriction in place,” said Milton.
The travel advisory is in place into the new year.
If someone does decide to cancel their plans, they are encouraged to check in with their travel insurance agency first for cancellation policies.
Not all policies cover COVID-19-related cancellations, however, there are many plans that will cover hospital, isolation, food, trip cancellation and rapid test costs.