Return of COVID-19 testing won’t add to chaos at Pearson Airport in Mississauga: Alghabra
Published July 15, 2022 at 11:59 am
Travellers at Pearson Airport in Mississauga will not experience any additional delays or other issues with the return of random COVID-19 testing for passengers arriving at Canada’s busiest travel hub.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, also MP for Mississauga Centre, assured the travelling public this morning (July 15) that the reinstatement of testing that will take effect July 19 will not add to congestion and other issues that have plagued Pearson and travellers for months now.
The random testing, which prior to Ottawa’s temporary suspension of the rule last month was conducted at Pearson, will now take place away from the airport. Passengers selected at random will be notified by email and then have tests done either at a pharmacy or virtually.
“We’re doing (testing) seamlessly and it will not impact the flow of passengers…at the airport,” Alghabra said at a press conference this morning where new affordable housing projects in Mississauga were being unveiled.
Taken off the housing topic momentarily, the transport minister was asked about the return of COVID-19 testing at Pearson.
“These measures are helpful and necessary to protect lives…but we want to do it in a way that does not add further congestion to the airport,” Alghabra continued. “It’s an improved process.”
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Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, also Mississauga Centre MP, says the return of COVID-19 tests at Pearson will not add to congestion or other ongoing problems at the airport.
Mandatory random testing of travellers arriving at Pearson begins again as fears of rising COVID-19 cases return.
Ottawa made the announcement yesterday (July 14) just a month after it paused the practice at major airports across the country for those entering Canada. The pause was part of its strategy to transition to testing incoming travellers outside of airports.
Unvaccinated people as well as those who are fully or partially vaccinated are subject to the random tests.
Pearson and other airports across Canada and North America have faced challenges the past few months as they deal with ongoing problems getting people through the air travel hubs in timely fashion.
Staff shortages combined with unexpectedly large numbers of people returning to air travel after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted earlier this year have overwhelmed airports.
A couple of weeks ago, both Air Canada and Pearson Airport ranked close to or at the top of lists of most flight delays anywhere in the world. Air Canada was first among carriers while Pearson was second on the airports list.
Around the same time, in response to various issues the aviation industry is facing as travellers return to airports in huge, unexpected numbers, Air Canada announced it will cut dozens of daily flights this summer from Pearson Airport and other airports across the country.
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