IATA urges governments to restore global air connectivity
Montreal, Canada - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments to use the commitments reached at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) High Level Conference on COVID-19 (HLCC) to make real progress towards restoring global air connectivity.
Oman, led by Eng Naif al Abri, CEO, Civil Aviation Authority, participated in the meeting which was held from October 12 to 22.
“Government-imposed restrictions continue to stop a revival of international travel. It remains 70 per cent down on pre-crisis levels. The ICAO HLCC commitments show that governments understand what is needed to restart global connectivity. The task now is implementation. Some governments have already started. The imminent opening of the US market to vaccinated travellers will be a big step forward. But we cannot let the output of this meeting remain as words on paper,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general in a press release.
“The airline industry, 88mn livelihoods, 3.5 per cent of global GDP and billions of travelers are counting on governments to deliver on the risk-managed reopening of international travel to which they have committed,” Walsh added.
Countries attending the ICAO HLCC declared their commitment to 14 measures which, if acted upon, would enable airlines to meet the demands of consumers worldwide for a revival of air travel.
In particular, two commitments need the most urgent action by governments, stated IATA. The first one is where the members states said they will take effective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in particular through the implementation of the ICAO CART guidelines, and encourage the harmonisation of member states’ multilayer risk management strategies to safely restore international connectivity and support the revival of the global economy as a critical step towards achieving the goals to enhance the social, environmental and economic sustainability of aviation. ‘This need to be done ensuring the interoperability and mutual recognition of, and accessibility to, digital applications, secure transmission and validation of pandemic-related testing, vaccination and recovery certification that protects privacy and personal data.’
The second one is where the member states said they were committed to promoting a harmonised and inclusive approach to facilitate safe international air travel, including alleviating or exempting testing and/or quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated or recovered passengers.
They will be taking into account the different circumstances of individual states and their national policies, in keeping with WHO’s policy and technical considerations for implementing a risk-based approach to international travel in the context of COVID-19 and providing exceptions for non-vaccinated passengers. ‘This will enable us to work towards strengthening the confidence of the travelling public and safely rebuilding international civil aviation,’ the member states said.