THE mutual recognition of agreed measures is critical for the resumption of international travel, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
This is a key deliverable of the Covid-19 Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
“CART has a very big job to do with little time to waste. It must find an agreement among states on the measures needed to control Covid-19 as aviation re-starts.
“And it must build confidence among governments that borders can be opened to travellers because a layered approach of measures has been properly implemented globally. IATA and the whole industry support this critical work,” IATA director-general/chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac said in a statement.
IATA said when the recovery begins, it is expected to be led by domestic travel.
Its survey of recent air travellers conducted in April 2020 found that 58% are somewhat or very likely to restrict their initial travel to domestic journeys.
Domestic Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) will only recover to 2019 levels by 2022, while international RPKs are only expected to return to 2019 levels in 2024.
“The impacts of the crisis on long-haul travel will be much more severe and of a longer duration than what is expected in domestic markets. This makes globally agreed and implemented biosecurity standards for the travel process all the more critical.
“We have a small window to avoid the consequences of uncoordinated unilateral measures that marked the post-9/11 period. We must act fast,” added de Juniac. – May 14, 2020, Bernama
