Cyprus Mail 6 January 2022 - by Kyriacos Nicolaou
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released a guide detailing how governments can restore and maintain air connectivity in 2022.
Titled ‘From Restart to Recovery: A blueprint for simplifying air travel’, the guide touches on a number of issues concerning the aviation industry, including risk-based frameworks, health protocols, health status credentials, contact tracing, and traveller communication.
“Our understanding of the virus and our ability to respond to it have evolved considerably, most notably through the development and distribution of a number of highly effective vaccines,” the association said, adding that “it is also clear, however, that the virus will not be eliminated and so the world is adapting to the need to learn to live with the virus”.
In terms of risk-based frameworks, IATA said that strategies centred around the elimination of the virus were not sustainable and that this required the implementation of a risk-based approach with regard to the reopening of borders.
“Predictability and stability are also required to further accelerate recovery of demand and a return to more normal travel patterns,” IATA said, stressing that clear and transparent frameworks are key to rebuilding traveller confidence.
The association did clarify, however, that these risk frameworks should often be revisited and revised according to the evolution of the pandemic.
Regarding health status protocols, IATA said that countries must “implement a consistent, stable and streamlined set of health protocols to make measures easier for travellers to follow and support the transition of international travel from restart to recovery”.
The association stressed that “vaccination offers the single best protection against COVID-19 and states should work to ensure that vaccines are available to all as quickly as possible”, adding that “vaccinated travellers should not face any additional barriers”.
As an example of what the association would like to see implemented, IATA mentions the European Union, explaining that the EU’s risk-based approach is aligned with the proposals included in IATA’s aviation industry blueprint.
On the issue of health status credentials, the association said that digital methods for the certification and verification of a traveller’s health status, including their vaccination status, recovery from a past infection, and recent test results, are already being used in a number of countries.
“Well-designed digital solutions have many benefits”, IATA said, while stressing that they should be “interoperable with the systems used by other countries to support mutual recognition and acceptance of health credentials”.
The association added that travellers’ personal data should be sufficiently protected, while digital health credentials, including the use of QR codes, should support both paper and digital formats.
In terms of contact tracing, where governments require health data from passengers as a way to mitigate risk and allow for the management of new outbreaks, IATA said that the process should be digital and established on a set of standardised information to avoid inconsistency.
The association also said that airlines should not replace local authorities as the go-to point for the collection and verification of each traveller’s health status.
“The ideal scenario is for the traveller to provide the information directly to the relevant
Government,” IATA said.
“Airlines should neither be intermediaries acting as the health information broker on behalf of government authorities, nor the decision taker on the admissibility of the passenger,” it added.
Finally, regarding the issue of traveller communication, IATA said its own polling has shown that 73 per cent of travellers find the confusion around covid protocols as a barrier to travel.
Furthermore, 73 per cent of those questioned said that arranging the necessary paperwork to travel was a challenge for them, while 69 per cent said that waiting times for the validation of documents were too long.
Regarding testing requirements, 69 per cent of travellers said that it was a hassle for them to arrange a test, while 66 per cent said that the cost of testing was too high and acts as a deterrent for future travel.
“There is a need for governments to make it easier for passengers to get access to clear, reliable and timely information on any health protocols and other measures that apply to their trip and how to comply with those requirements,” IATA said.
