THE HEAD OF airline Qantas has said that people who want to travel internationally in the future will have to provide proof that they have received the Covid-19 vaccination.

Alan Joyce, who previously worked for Aer Lingus, described how his company is looking to amend their current terms and conditions to make it mandatory for anyone wanting to travel to prove they have been inoculated.

He told Australia’s Channel 9: “We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travellers that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft.

“For international travellers, we will ask people to have a vaccination before they get on the aircraft,’’ he said.

“Certainly, for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country we think that’s a necessity.

“I think that’s going to be a common thing talking to my colleagues in other airlines around the globe.”

Joyce said he expects the airline industry to return to relative normality by the end of next year, depending on if the vaccines currently being trialled are effective. 

He explained: “Unfortunately with the levels of the virus in the United States and in Europe, we’re not going to see operations to those destinations in any real strength until we see a vaccine being rolled out, which is likely towards the end of 2021.”

Earlier this month, pharma firm Modern announced its experimental vaccine against Covid-19 was shown to be 94.5%  effective according to early results from a clinical trial with more than 30,000 participants.

“This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent Covid-19 disease, including severe disease,” said Stephane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO.

There are also several other vaccines currently being trialled with early data showing widespread efficacy.