The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which is the representative body for the global airline industry, has urged the world’s governments to learn the lessons from their attempts to contain and combat the Covid-19 pandemic by means of travel restrictions and border closures. These efforts, in Iata’s words, “collapsed global air connectivity”, inflicting “massive” economic and social harm.

“It’s vital to restore public confidence in government handling of health crises and border restrictions,” stated Iata deputy director-general Conrad Clifford. “Much of the damage was caused not by fear of the virus, but fear of sudden and arbitrary border restrictions imposed by authorities. Understanding the significant lessons from the pandemic will be crucial to managing future health crises in a way that ensures borders should not have to close again.”

Iata affirmed that the pandemic had taught three key lessons.

Firstly, it had confirmed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) longstanding position that border closures were not effective against a global pandemic. Research has established that, if travel restrictions were introduced the moment a new Covid variant was discovered, it would only delay the peak point of infections by no more than four days. The WHO has stated that there were no reasons for measures that “unnecessarily” disrupted international trade and travel, and Iata agreed with that position.

Secondly, it was necessary for governments to balance anti-pandemic health measures with their social and economic effects. The consequences of the disruption of international air connectivity were clear.  Before the Covid-19 pandemic, air transport had supported 87.7-million jobs worldwide; after the pandemic (at the end the last year), this figure had dropped 50%, to 43.8-million. Before the pandemic, air transport had supported $3.5-trillion in global economic activity; by the end of last year, this had fallen 49%, to $1.8-trillion.

Thirdly, the maintenance of confidence among travellers required clear communication and logical rules. In reality, every country went its own way, often with rules that were arbitrary and illogical, coupled with confusing messaging. In January, worldwide, there were still about 100 000 different rules in force which affected international travel. Governments should adopt consistent approaches to rules for travel, and adopt common standards and mutually recognise digital health credentials.

“Already, 71% of travellers believe that they should be travelling as they did before the pandemic,” he highlighted. “As the return to normal accelerates, we will be back to a world where our biggest concerns focus on the sustainable growth of aviation. But that does not mean that governments and industry should forget the lessons from the pandemic. There will be more global health threats. Applying the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic to future health crises is the best way to ensure that the sacrifices made by millions of people were not made in vain.”