The BA.5 subvariant of COVID-19 is making it’s way around the world, but it hasn’t stopped people from getting on an airplane and taking off.
George Trotter was at the Saskatoon airport on the morning of July 21 with his family heading to London, England for a couple of weddings.
“I’m going to be a bit anti-social at both of them,” said Trotter, talking about the weddings.
Trotter says COVID-19 is a concern for him but he plans to take all the necessary precautions.
“I’m fully vaccinated, I’ve actually got four shots. I follow all the safety protocols, wash my hands, social distance when I don’t know people,” said Trotter.
Saskatoon travel advisor Barb Crowe, who works with Ixtapa Travel, says people aren’t changing their plans.
“Right now we’re not really seeing any major cancellations” said Crowe. “A lot of our clients travel to Europe in September and October.”
Ixtapa Travel is planning a group trip to Europe, one that was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
Travellers are excited for the trip, but travel advisor Shammi Rathwell says there is a bit of concern.
“There is some concern about COVID, there is some concern about the war, but we still ended up with a fairly large group that are still going” said Rathwell.
Laurie Korol is part of the group travelling overseas with Ixtapa Travel along with her partner.
She says she isn’t concerned about COVID-19.
“I think when you have the opportunity to travel, you need to take those opportunities and just go.”
Travel advisors say people are starting to travel more since many countries have lifted travel restrictions.
“We gotta get back to a normal way of life. At the end of the day if we’re fully vaccinated, we can travel with some level of confidence,” said Trotter.
Ixtapa Travel says many of its clients are baby boomers eager to make up for lost time and start checking off items on their bucket list.