Airports Council International (ACI) World this week released a comprehensive guide for airports as the recovery from the devastation of the global pandemic begins to gather steam.
The publication, “Aviation Operations during COVID-19 – Business Restart and Recovery,” provides best practice examples and guidance for both the initial phases of aviation industry restart, as well as the longer-term recovery process post-COVID-19.
“COVID-19 has been an unprecedented global challenge, particularly to the aviation industry, with the quick spread of the virus resulting in governments rapidly restricting travel and closing borders to limit the spread,” ACI World Director General Angela Gittens said. “This has had a drastic and detrimental effect on airports worldwide and a variety of new measures could become a necessity at airports as the industry restarts. For airports, the focus is to protect the health and welfare of travelers, staff, and the public, to minimize the opportunities for dissemination of disease while maintaining efficient operations.”
In the new guide, ACI World said it expects the return to business to come in phases; an initial restart with limited number of passengers, recovery with a slow increase in passenger volume, a gradual scale-up in capacity, and finally a return to more normal passenger volume.
ACI-World calls for increased cooperation between governments, airports, carriers and other stakeholders to develop global standards.
Among the recommendations is that large-scale testing on-airport be discouraged as it is likely to result in the creation of crowds, queues and additional dwell time.
“This would be counterproductive in terms of physical distancing, and also create unnecessary concerns about the safety of the aviation system, unnecessary security risks, and possible safety hazards,” the guidance says, proposing that alternatives such as self-declaration of health should be considered for passengers, preferably though electronic means and directly with government entities. “If entry and exit screening is mandated by governments, it should be carried out in a nonintrusive, walk-through manner.”
ACI-World also calls for enhanced communications to raise public awareness about reducing the spread, including websites and in-terminal signage, and stresses that all protective measures be simple and practical.
“Measures should be constantly reviewed for impact, suitability and effectiveness,” the report added.
