Airports Council International (ACI) World and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) this week again called on governments to coordinate testing strategies as a means to safely re-open borders and re-establish global connectivity.
The two organizations also called for more non-debt generating financial support to prevent the systemic collapse of the aviation industry.
“ACI and IATA are aligned in calling for urgent government action to introduce widespread and coordinated testing of passengers to enable quarantine requirements to be removed,” said ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira. “Without this action, it is not an exaggeration that the industry is facing collapse.”
The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) estimates that 46 million jobs are at risk because of the loss of connectivity caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The vast majority of these jobs are in the travel and tourism sector which relies on aviation, with the rest being spread across direct employment in aviation, including airports and airlines.
In accordance with World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations, ACI and IATA said they are united in the belief that costs related to public health measures aimed at mitigating the spread of communicable diseases, including the introduction of a coordinated approach to testing, should be borne by national governments.
“Momentum is building in support of testing to re-open borders,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director general and CEO. “It’s the top operational priority. And to make sure that we have a viable aviation sector at the end of this crisis a second round of financial relief is unavoidable.”
