Iata supports WHO proposals to help revive cross-border travel

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) called on states to follow new commonsense, risk-based recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) aimed at speeding up the revival of global cross-border travel.

Specifically, the WHO recommended that governments should not make proof of Covid-19 vaccination as a mandatory condition

for entry or exit. The WHO also suggested that measures such as testing and/or quarantine requirements for travellers who are fully vaccinated or have had a confirmed previous Covid-19 infection within the past six months should be avoided.

Iata also urged measures to ensure alternative pathways for unvaccinated individuals through testing so that they are able to travel internationally. The WHO recommends RRT-PCR tests or antigen detection rapid diagnostic tests for this purpose. It suggested that authorities should only implement test and/or quarantine measures for international travellers “on a risk-based manner” with policies on testing and quarantine regularly reviewed to ensure they are lifted when no longer necessary.

Willie Walsh, Iata’s directorgeneral, said such common sense, risk-based recommendations from the WHO, if followed by states, will allow international air travel to resume while minimising the chance of importing Covid-19.

“As the WHO notes — and as the latest UK testing data proves — international travellers are not a high-risk group in terms of

Covid-19. Out of 1.65 million tests carried out on arriving international passengers in the UK since February, only 1.4 per cent was positive for Covid-19. It’s long past time for governments to incorporate data into risk-based decision-making processes for reopening borders,” said Walsh.

Taxation not ‘sustainable’

Meanwhile, Iata warned that the reliance on taxation as the solution for cutting aviation emissions in the EU’S ‘Fit for 55’ proposal is counter-productive to the goal of sustainable aviation. EU policy needs to support practical emission reduction measures such as incentives for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and modernisation of air traffic management.

“To reduce emissions, we need governments to implement a constructive policy framework that, most immediately, focuses on production incentives for SAF and delivering the Single European Sky.”

It’s long past time for governments to incorporate data into risk-based decision-making processes for re-opening borders

Willie Walsh, director-general of Iata