Airports Council International (ACI) World has welcomed the latest updated guidance for states in addressing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on air travel, published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The organization notes that as parts of the aviation ecosystem continue to make small steps toward recovery, global consistency remains the key to a sustained and effective restart of operations. Airports, airlines, governments and regulators have looked to ICAO to provide consistent guidance needed to underpin globally harmonized measures that will increase public confidence in air travel and support continued safe operations.
According to ACI, the second edition of the ‘Take-off’ guidance document published by ICAO’s Council Aviation Recovery Task Force features welcome new information including:
- Guidance on a risk-based and evidence-based approach to support states in implementing a multi-layered risk management strategy to assist in the restart and recovery of operations;
- A risk management framework with a decision-making tool to determine the risk of transporting potentially infectious passengers and/or importing Covid-19; and
- Information on factors states could consider should they elect to implement testing, as well as guidance on how to implement testing.
“We welcome the new guidance from the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force which will help to establish a globally harmonized approach to health measures and testing,” remarked ACI World director general Luis Felipe de Oliveira. “The overriding issue is one of testing – we need an agreed approach to testing as a means of facilitating safe travel instead of the restrictive quarantine measures that are blunting the industry’s recovery efforts.
“The acceptance and implementation of measures by member states will reinforce the alignment of the sector with requirements from individual countries’ health authorities, providing the confidence we need to safely restart operations and contribute to the global economy recovery.”
ACI World says it is also anticipating the publication of the Testing and Cross-Border Risk Management Measures Guidance Manual being produced by ICAO’s Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA).
“The manual will be an invaluable contribution to the industry as it will provide countries with a risk management framework for evaluating testing options and factors to consider in implementing testing,” Luis Felipe de Oliveira added.
“This will guide countries in doing away with quarantine to implement flexible and risk-based testing which will ensure that passengers recognize that their health and safety is the priority and the recovery of air travel can be accelerated.”