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IATA Urges Gov’ts to Keep Their Promises & Deliver on Commitments for Restoring Int’l Travelling

Governments should put to use the commitments made at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which aim to improve travelling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the global body for aviation (IATA) has urged.

According to a press release issued by IATA, the International Air Transport Association, countries have to follow the commitments they made during the High-Level Conference on COVID-19 (HLCC), which includes 14 measures, simply said through two main commitments, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“We commit to taking effective measures to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and other communicable diseases by international air travel, in particular through the implementation of the ICAO CART guidelines,” the first commitment reveals.

Moreover, through this commitment, governments vow to encourage the harmonisation of Member States’ risk management strategies to restore international aviation and support the global economy. Furthermore, the governments have declared to work towards reviving the economy to improve aviation sustainability in the social, environmental, and economic areas.

The governments have also sworn to mutually recognise and offer access to digital applications, secure communication and verify COVID-19 related testing, vaccination and recovery certification by simultaneously protecting user’s privacy and personal data.

“We commit to promoting, to the greatest extent possible, a harmonised and inclusive approach to facilitate safe international air travel, including alleviating or exempting testing and/or quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated or recovered passengers, taking into account the different circumstances of individual States and their national policies,” the second commitment reads.

Furthermore, the second commitment reveals that Member States intend to build a risk-based international travel approach by following World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. They vow to respect travellers’ choice of not getting vaccinated by exemptions in several areas, allowing IATA to increase travellers’ confidence towards restoring international aviation.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director, also revealed that IATA Travel Pass is being already implemented by several airlines and called on governments to prepare for processing documentation through digital solutions as the demand is set to increase.

Walsh also highlighted that although a few governments have already started implementing a more friendly travelling environment for travellers, the US facilitating entry restrictions has paved the way for such aviation renovation to happen. Moreover, Walsh called on governments to end entry restrictions and deliver on the risk-management towards international travelling restoration.

ICAO previously published recommendations in accordance with the implementation of the commitments made through the HLCC declaration. Known as CART Three (the Council Aviation Recovery Task Force), which represents the output from previous recommendations from the CART, the Take-off guidance and Cross-border Manuals.

 

Source: Civil Aviation Authority – Qatar

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