(29 Jan 2021)
IATA has called on governments to partner with the air
transport industry to devise plans to safely re-link people,
business and economies when the COVID19 epidemiological situation
permits.

“We can see the light at the end of the tunnel as
vaccination programs roll out,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
“Turning this vision into a safe and
orderly re-start will require careful planning and coordination by
governments and industry. This will be challenging as the priority
for the weeks and months ahead will be containing the spread of
new variants. But even as the crisis deepens, it is important to
prepare the way for a resumption of flights when the
epidemiological situation permits. Understanding government policy
benchmarks and agreeing the global standards needed to support a
return to normality in travel will ensure that air transport is
well-prepared and does not become a meaningful vector for reimportation.
Airlines are ready to support governments in this task.”

IATA says it is already seeing some governments
evolving principles in their testing/vaccination programs that
could form the foundation for global harmonization. These include:

Vaccinations: Most governments are pursuing a
vaccination strategy that seeks to protect their health care workers and most vulnerable populations first. IATA suggests
re-opening borders to travel when this has been achieved, as the
greatest risks will have been mitigated.

The Vaccinated: The Greek government
has proposed that
vaccinated individuals should be immediately exempted from travel
restrictions, including quarantine. IATA says it supports moves by
governments, including Poland, Latvia, Lebanon and Seychelles,
to implement this exemption.

Testing: Many governments are
implementing testing regimes to facilitate travel. Germany and the US, for example, are taking advantage of
the rapid improvement in testing technologies to accept PCR and
antigen testing to safely manage the risks of travel. While rapid
antigen tests are preferred for their speed and cost advantages,
it is clear that PCR testing will play a role as many governments
are requiring tests within a 48 to 72-hour window prior to
travel.

Crew: The ICAO-CART guidance recommends that crew be
exempt from testing processes and restrictions that are designed
for passengers. IATA says it supports crew health management protocols
which include, for example, regular testing and health checks at
home bases, along with strict guidelines limiting interaction with
the local community during crew layovers. This enables airlines to
manage the risks of COVID19 while maintaining operational
viability.

“There are plenty of moving parts in the equation. The number
of people vaccinated, and the availability of testing are key
among them. Airlines have adapted their operations in order to
maintain cargo operations and some passenger services, while
complying with the numerous and uncoordinated restrictions
imposed. Building on this experience they can help governments
with their preparations for eventually safely re-establishing
global connectivity for their people, businesses and economies,”
said de Juniac.

Underlying all scenarios for the re-establishment of
air connectivity is the development of global standards so that
the requirements of one country can be followed by travelers
originating in other jurisdictions. Key global standards that are
being developed include:

Vaccination Certificates: The
WHO is leading efforts to build the standards needed to digitally
record vaccination information that will be critical to
re-establishing international travel. The Smart Vaccination
Certificate will be the digital successor to the long-established
“yellow book” used to manage vaccinations such as yellow fever.

Global Framework for Testing: The OECD is laying the
foundation for a global framework to help governments trust
testing data based on mutual recognition of testing results. The
urgency of such a framework was demonstrated by the recent
suspension of flights between the UAE and Denmark over concerns
about the UAE’s testing regime. A trusted framework will ensure
that travelers are not caught in the middle when governments do
not recognize each other’s testing regimes. Standardizing the
appropriate testing certificates is also essential.

Digital
Travel Credential (DTC): ICAO has published standards to create a
DTC from ePassports. Along with enabling contactless travel as
recommended by ICAO-CART guidelines, the credentials are an
essential component in digitally matching travelers to their
vaccination and testing certificates. The standard exists and the
challenge now is implementation.

“As we have seen,
unilateral government decisions are very effective in shutting
down global mobility. Re- establishing the freedom to travel,
however, can only be done with cooperation. Governments are
already seeing how challenging that will be without global
standards for vaccines or tests. This puts a spotlight on the urgency of the essential work being done by WHO, OECD and ICAO.
IATA is participating in these initiatives and stands ready to
help governments with implementation,” de Juniac said.

IATA is building the
information infrastructure it believes will help to safely re-start travel. The IATA Travel Pass is an industry solution
designed to help governments, airlines and individual travelers manage
vaccine or testing requirements with accurate information, secure
identification and verified data.

The first pilot program to test the app
in a real travel situation commenced with Singapore Airlines in
December 2020. A growing list of airlines are confirming their
intention to use IATA Travel Pass, including IAG, Emirates, Etihad
Airways and Qatar Airways.

“Based on our deep experience
of driving transformational change in global air transport, we
believe that IATA Travel Pass will offer the best support to
governments in managing vaccination and testing data to safely
facilitate travel. But the success of any of the solutions being
developed will depend on governments working with and trusting
each other. Air transport built its reputation on safety by
cooperating with governments to ensure universal implementation of
transparent global standards. That’s a compelling model for how
industry and governments can work together to re-connect the world
using opportunities created testing and vaccination progress,”
said de Juniac.

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