Airlines must name travellers who’ve been in Southern African nations, US says

Washington — The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a directive requiring airlines to disclose passenger names and other information about those who have recently been in eight southern African countries, according to documents seen by Reuters.

Effective November 8, the CDC required all airlines to collect contact tracing information from all international air passengers but had not required them to turn over those names.

The directive, which took effect late on Tuesday, requires airlines to turn over the information within 24 hours of passengers arriving in the US who have been in one of the eight African countries subject to travel restrictions.

Numerous countries have banned flights from the Southern African countries, including SA, after the identification of the Omicron Covid-19 strain last week.

With staff writer

Reuters