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Africa|Aviation|Building|Business|Health|Safety|Sanitation|Screening|SECURITY|Services|Sustainable|Tourism|transport|Operations
Africa|Aviation|Building|Business|Health|Safety|Sanitation|Screening|SECURITY|Services|Sustainable|Tourism|transport|Operations
africa|aviation|building|business|health|safety|sanitation|screening|security|services|sustainable|tourism|transport|operations

African govts urged to apply ICAO guidance to restart air travel

3rd July 2020

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Three international air transport sector organisations have urged African governments to harmonise the safe restart of their air services by swiftly implementing the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO’s) global guidelines for the restoration of safe air transport, entitled Takeoff: Guidance for Air Travel through the Covid-19 Public Health Crisis. (ICAO is a specialist agency of the United Nations.) The organisations are the International Air Transport Association (Iata), the ICAO Regional Offices for African States and the Airports Council International – Africa (ACI Africa).

In a joint statement, they pointed out that the ICAO guidelines had been adopted and incorporated into the African Union’s own restart and recovery strategies for the continent’s aviation sector. The ICAO guidelines provided a phased and layered approach to restarting air travel, based on recommendations from public health authorities. These included physical distancing, where feasible; the wearing of masks and face coverings by crews and passengers; health screening; routine disinfection and sanitation; contact tracing; and the use of passenger health declaration forms.

The Covid-19 pandemic, and the measures taken to contain it, had crippled Africa’s air transport sector, the three bodies pointed out. Demand this year is expected to be 58.5% down on last year. This would be the biggest drop among all the world’s air transport regions. African airlines were expected to suffer net losses of $2-billion this year. At the same time, African airports were forecast to lose revenues of some $2.2-billion, representing a 51% fall year-on-year. Up to 50% of employees in Africa’s aviation and related industries could lose their jobs, which, in numbers, would come to 3.1-million people becoming unemployed, and the continent’s gross domestic product could fall by $28-billion.

“Developed based on the latest medical evidence and consistent with health best practices the ICAO Takeoff guidance provides governments with a framework for restarting aviation while protecting public health,” explained ICAO Eastern and Southern African Office regional director Barry Kashambo (who spoke on behalf of the ICAO Regional Offices for African States). “Governments in Africa are encouraged to implement the guidance urgently and in a harmonised and mutually recognised way to allow aviation to safely start contributing to Africa’s economic recovery post Covid-19. Air connectivity is critical to economic and sustainable development in and across the continent.”

“ICAO’s Takeoff guidance is a global way forward for aviation. Implementation should give governments the confidence to open borders without quarantine, and passengers the confidence to fly. But guidelines mean nothing if they are not implemented,” cautioned Iata regional VP: Africa and the Middle East Muhammad Albakri. “And that is our main message to governments in Africa. Deviations from the guidance and mandatory approaches, especially on quarantine and social distancing, will damage public confidence, make it harder to operate effectively, slow down the industry restart and increase the economic pressures already created by Covid-19. This would be harmful to public health and the economic recovery.”

“Safety and security remain the industry’s main priority, and both are firmly entrenched into every airport’s operations and corporate culture,” assured ACI Africa secretary-general Ali Tounsi. “Building on this track record, the ICAO Takeoff guidance is fully aligned with our industry’s focus on passenger and staff wellbeing. We therefore urge African States to urgently adopt these guidelines so that we can ensure the implementation of consistent, harmonised and effective measures across the region, a prerequisite for passengers to return to air travel in all confidence, and for the swift restoration of air connectivity for the sustainable recovery of the travel, business and tourism sectors on the continent.”

The three organisations were also encouraging African States, when the epidemiological situation permitted, to seek every opportunity to lift air travel restrictions, whether through bilateral or multilateral agreements. “Iata, ACI Africa, and ICAO firmly believe that now is the time for all stakeholders of the aviation ecosystem to act in unity and work together towards a swift, efficient, harmonised and sustainable recovery of the African air transport industry,” they affirmed in their joint statement.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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