If Canadian authorities are aiming to curb international travel even more as COVID-19 spread increases along with the U.K. variant, another testing barrier is the next logical step, aviation experts say.
The federal government recently introduced the requirement that international passengers must provide a negative PCR test result taken three days before their flight back to Canada in order to re-enter the country.
Former Air Canada executive and aviation management program coordinator at McGill's School of Continuing Studies John Gradek said the next step would be similar to what other countries have done.
"A post-flight COVID test," he said. "Now we have to get those people to quarantine at the point of disembarkation."
In that scenario, returning passengers would remain at specially designated holding areas in or around the airport until they get their negative result back.
Gradek points to other countries such as South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore which have taken stricter measures with regards to international travel.
"This would be us catching up," he said.
Aviation expert Prof. Karl Moore, also of McGill, agrees that increased testing makes the most sense.
"Emirates and some other airlines in the Middle East and Europe and in southeast Asia have put in more demanding measures and they are ones that should be considered by the Government of Canada with advice from health care experts," he said.
While an additional testing requirement could reach the desired effect of stopping people from flying, Moore points out it could also actually give those an assurance that their flight will be safer.
"Because they go with all this testing going on, not only for myself, but the people who are sitting across the aisle, the people that I see at the airport, it gives you a sense of confidence that you can travel safely," he said.
Ontario's public health officials are seriously concerned about the COVID-19 variant from the U.K., with 14 cases in the province, and other variants are being monitored.
Ontario's COVID-19 science table is warning that should the UK variant spread too much in the community, the rate at which case counts double would shift dramatically.
Currently it's every 35 to 40 days, but enough spread of the variant could drop that down to just 10 days, a recent report said.
But Gradek says there's also what he calls the "hammer" approach.
"It's been done by a number of countries overseas where they've basically said, we've asked the airlines not to fly," he said.
He said the federal government could identify certain vacation spots such as in the Carribean and if COVID-19 transmission is high enough, suspend flights altogether.
A new Angus Reid poll found that two-thirds of respondents said if it were up to them, they would prohibit personal travel altogether.