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The Malaysian carrier joins Qantas and Air New Zealand with its new mandate, but which airline will blink first outside the Asia-Pacific region?

AirAsia Group Bhd’s Malaysian unit will only allow fully vaccinated adult passengers on its flights as it prepares to resume domestic and eventually international flight services, it said on Wednesday.

“AirAsia Malaysia has made it mandatory for only completely vaccinated adult guests to be allowed to board its flights, effective immediately,” it said in a statement, adding that those under 18 who have yet to be fully vaccinated will need to be accompanied by innoculated family.

The budget airline’s Covid-19 mitigation plan is among the strictest in the industry.

Australia’s Qantas last month said it will require international flight passengers to be fully vaccinated while earlier this week Air New Zealand also announced the same requirement for passengers on international flights.

AirAsia, whose employees have been fully vaccinated since August, also requires passengers to check-in via its app to significantly reduce physical interaction in the airport clearance and boarding process, it said.

(Reporting by Liz Lee, Editing by Louise Heavens)

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

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Tags: air new zealand, airasia, coronavirus, covid-19, qantas

Photo credit: AirAsia Malaysia has made it mandatory for only completely vaccinated adult guests to be allowed to board its flights, effective immediately. AirAsia Group

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