Global standards needed `yesterday' for air travel to rebound: industry group
Global airlines are urging governments to agree on universal COVID-19 testing and vaccination standards ahead of an expected restart in international air travel later this year.
The International Air Transport Association is one of several groups working on a mobile application that will help travellers store and manage their verified COVID-19 certifications. As travel restrictions progressively get lifted over the coming months, flyers will need to prove they've been tested and vaccinated, or show proof of exemption, IATA executives said Tuesday.
Differing health measures between countries have created “a mess of inconsistency,” Nick Careen, the IATA senior vice-president who is spearheading the association's Travel Pass initiative, said on a conference call with reporters.
“Customers don't know what's required or where to get it,” he said. “Airlines are left being validators of the information, with no true means to verify it. On top of all of that, it's paper-based. After almost 30 years in this business, I cannot stress enough how chaotic this will be if we do not solve this problem now.”
The IATA is planning to roll out its digital travel pass at the end of March, which it says will give governments the confidence to reopen borders without mandatory quarantine and help accelerate the check-in process.
Failure to adopt international standards “will delay the restart, will impact our recovery and will have airlines taking it on the chin one more time,” said Careen, a former Air Canada executive.
“We need clear policy directions,” he said. “We need some standards to be developed in terms of testing and vaccination certificates, and we need this yesterday.”
The IATA represents 290 airlines in 120 countries. Headquartered in Montreal, it also has offices in Geneva.
The association is working with more than 30 governments — including Panama, Singapore and the U.K. — to push the idea of a restart associated with the travel pass, CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. At least 18 major carriers have signed on to adopt the IATA platform, he added.
“Understanding government plans is important because restarting an airline is not like flipping a switch,” said de Juniac. “Airlines need to ready their crews and aircraft. After a year of lockdowns, this requires checks, co-ordination and training. On top of that, airlines will need time to market the potential services so that the restart of operations will have some passengers.”